China, US agree to scrap tariffs in phases

BEIJING: China and the United States have agreed to cancel in phases the tariffs imposed during their months-long trade war, the Chinese commerce ministry said on Thursday, without specifying a timetable.

An interim US-China trade deal is widely expected to include a US pledge to scrap tariffs scheduled for Dec. 15 on about $156 billion worth of Chinese imports, including cell phones, laptop computers and toys.

Tariff cancellation was an important condition for any agreement, ministry spokesman Gao Feng said, adding that both must simultaneously cancel some tariffs on each other’s goods to reach a “phase one” trade deal.

“The trade war started with tariffs, and should end with the cancellation of tariffs,” Gao told a regular news briefing.

The proportion of tariffs canceled for both sides to reach a “phase one” deal must be the same, but the number to be canceled can be negotiated, he added, without elaborating.

“In the past two weeks, the lead negotiators from both sides have had serious and constructive discussions on resolving various core concerns appropriately,” Gao said.

“Both sides have agreed to cancel additional tariffs in different phases, as both sides make progress in their negotiations.”

He did not give a timeline.

In what could be another gesture to boost optimism, China’s state news agency Xinhua reported late on Thursday that the Chinese customs and the Ministry of Agriculture are considering removing restrictions on U.S. poultry imports.[B9N26I016]

China has banned all US poultry and eggs since January 2015 due to an avian influenza outbreak.

Beijing’s signal that a ‘phase 1’ trade deal with the United States was close to being sealed helped Europe’s share markets hit a more than 4-year peak on Thursday and bond yields shuffled higher. Courtesy Reuters

 

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