Xi-Trump summit in Osaka brings trade truce, more talks and hope for Huawei

Washington will not impose new tariffs ‘for the time being’ and China will ‘immediately’ be given a list of goods the US wants to sell to reduce deficit

American companies will meanwhile be allowed to sell to Chinese tech firm again as long as it does not involve parts that could threaten national security

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US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping agreed to restart trade talks during their meeting in Osaka on Saturday. Photo: AFP

Published: 10:00pm, 29 Jun 2019Updated: 1:07pm, 30 Jun 2019

China and the United States reached a trade truce after a high-stakes leaders’ summit on Saturday, with Washington agreeing to put on hold new tariffs on Chinese products and ease restrictions for American companies to sell to telecoms giant Huawei Technologies.

During talks on the sidelines of the Group of 20 gathering in Osaka, Chinese President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Donald Trump also agreed to resume trade talks. Trump said the US would not impose new tariffs on US$300 billion worth of Chinese products “at least for the time being” – as the South China Morning Post and POLITICO reported earlier.

In return, China would buy a “tremendous” amount of US goods to reduce the trade deficit, Trump said. Washington would “immediately” give China a list of the goods it wants to sell, the US president said at a press conference later in the day.

The biggest surprise was his statement that US companies would be allowed to sell to Chinese telecoms equipment maker Huawei again, as long as the business did not involve parts that could threaten America’s national security.

That could effectively end a ban announced in May on American firms selling to Huawei. The Chinese company relies heavily on its American partners to supply key components for its smartphones and other products. But Huawei products will still be banned from the US market.