China to demand US remove tariffs in exchange for agricultural purchases in talks on Friday
- US trade representative Robert Lighthizer, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Chinese Vice-Premier Liu He will speak by telephone on Friday
- Talks follow negotiations in Washington earlier this month that appeared to take steps closer to a ‘phase one’ deal to calm a nearly 16-month trade war
Top trade officials from China and the United States will discuss plans on Friday for Beijing to buy more American farm products, but in return, Chinese negotiators will request the cancellation of some planned and existing import tariffs, people briefed on the talks told Reuters.
So far, Trump has only agreed to cancel an increase in tariffs on US$250 billion in Chinese goods as part of understandings reached on agricultural purchases, increased access to China’s financial services markets, improved protections for intellectual property rights and a currency pact.
The Chinese want to get back to tariffs on just the original US$250 billion in goods
But to seal the deal, Beijing is expected to ask Washington to drop its plan to impose tariffs on US$156 billion worth of Chinese goods, including mobile phones, laptop computers and toys, set to come into force on December 15, two US-based sources told Reuters.
