WASHINGTON: The White House reached a “deal in principle” with Beijing on trade, sources briefed on the talks said on Thursday, but it may be narrower than the “Phase 1” deal US President Donald Trump promised in October.
In the current deal, the US would suspend tariffs expected to go into effect on US$160 bil (RM665.6 bil) in Chinese goods, and Beijing has promised to buy more US agricultural goods, Bloomberg reported, without further details.
One former senior trade negotiator said the devil was in the details of the written agreement, which is still being worked out. “In trade negotiations, written text is important since that’s where a lot of the lingering disagreements tend to resurface.”
Trump has signed off on the deal, and a White House announcement could come shortly, one source said.
In an attempt to secure a “Phase 1” trade deal, US negotiators earlier offered to cut existing tariffs on Chinese goods by as much as 50% as well as suspend new tariffs that were scheduled to go into effect on Sunday, two people familiar with the negotiations said earlier on Thursday.
The US-China trade war has slowed global growth and dampened profits and investment for companies around the world. The US has announced US$28 bil in subsidies for farmers who were impacted by the trade war.
China bought US$24 bil in US farm products in 2017, before the trade war started, according to US Department of Agriculture figures. – By Andrea Shalal and David Lawder, Reuters
