bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Teddy Ng

As negotiators from China and the United States wrapped up two days of talks in Washington on Friday, US President Donald Trump said the two sides had reached a “substantial” partial trade deal that would delay the imposition of additional tariffs on Chinese goods.
The announcement of the “phase one” agreement – which Trump said would take three to five weeks to draw up and provide a catalyst for a second stage – was well received by US stock markets, all of which ended the day up more than 1 per cent.
Here’s what made them happy:

New tariffs postponed
The US agreed to suspend a 5 percentage point increase that was set to take effect on Tuesday and would have raised the tariff on US$250 billion worth of Chinese goods to 30 per cent.
However, US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said a decision had yet to be made on whether fresh duties of 15 per cent on US$160 billion of mostly consumer products that were scheduled to take effect in December would also be paused.
Trade war talks ‘constructive’ but there could be trouble ahead
More transparency on financial services
US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said he had held “very good discussions” with China’s central bank governor Yi Gang on the opening up of China’s financial services market.
“We have an agreement around transparency into the foreign exchange markets and free markets. So we’re very pleased with that,” he said.
In August Washington named Beijing a currency manipulator, but Mnuchin hinted that the move might be reversed if the two sides reached a deal.
“We’ll be making a decision on that and evaluating it,” he said. “Although I would comment that, assuming we close the agreement and we have the assurances, that will be a big step in the right direction for our evaluation.”

China to buy more US agricultural products
After Liu and his team agreed to China buying an extra US$40 billion to US$50 billion worth of American agricultural products, Trump advised US farmers to “immediately buy more land and get bigger tractors”.
“The other thing I will say is, over the last two weeks, a lot of purchases have started going back to our farmers. And you’ve been doing a lot of business with us, which we appreciate very much,” the president said. “But it really started a few weeks ago, but they intend to go up, ultimately, once the agreement is signed, from US$40 to US$50 billion.”
New soybean could make China more self-reliant
Progress on technology transfers
Trump said the two sides had made good progress on the issue of technology transfers, though he did not elaborate.
“We’ll have some technology transfer in the agreement, but technology transfer will largely be done here and also in phase two,” the president said.
Issues related to Chinese telecom giant Huawei – which was put on an export blacklist in May – were not part of the agreement.


The surge of global business interest in China’s ‘harbour of stability’

Couple convicted of stealing trade secrets for China loses US citizenship

Trump-Xi summit: US trade chief casts doubt on pre-meeting Beijing visit

Why spike in fertiliser prices may boost China’s political clout amid Iran war shockwaves

US-China trade war

US-China ‘partial’ trade deal sees tariff rise halted, progress on technology transfers

American farmers may be the biggest beneficiaries of the latest trade deal between the US and China. Photo: EPA-EFE

Vanessa Kummer checks the quality of their 2018 soybean crops on the family farm near Colfax, North Dakota, U.S., August 6, 2019. Picture taken on August 6, 2019. REUTERS/Dan Koeck

China's Vice Premier Liu He looks on during a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, U.S., October 11, 2019. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas     TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

Beijing warns of more uncertainty in trade war negotiations despite ‘constructive’ talks in Washington

US President Donald Trump was upbeat about his meeting with Chinese Vice-Premier Liu He at the end of two days of trade negotiations. Photo: AP

FILE PHOTO: China's Vice Premier Liu He gestures to the media between U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer (L) and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin before the two countries' trade negotiations in Washington, U.S., October 10, 2019. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas/File Photo

(191011) -- WASHINGTON, Oct. 11, 2019 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to reporters before leaving the White House in Washington D.C., the United States, on Oct. 10, 2019. U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he hopes to mediate between Turkey and the Syrian Kurds, and also threatened to punish Turkey if its offensive in northeast Syria goes beyond limits. (Photo by Ting Shen/Xinhua)

Donald Trump says ‘substantial phase-one deal’ reached in China trade talks, new tariffs delayed

US President Donald Trump said “good things are happening” at the start of a second day of high-level negotiations with China. Photo: Reuters

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin accompanied by Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, arrive to a minister-level trade meeting at the Office of the United States Trade Representative in Washington, Friday, Oct. 11, 2019. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

US and China make no progress on key trade issues in two days of deputy-level talks, sources say

Chinese Vice-Premier Liu He (right) leads the Chinese delegation that will meet with US trade negotiators Robert Lighthizer (centre) and Steven Mnuchin on Thursday in Washington. They are pictured in Shanghai on July 31. Photo: AP

White House trade adviser Peter Navarro speaks during a television interview at the White House, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2019, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

New soybean could make China more self-reliant during trade war

Soybeans have provided a running theme of the US-China trade war. Photo: AP

News

China

Diplomacy


Donald Trump advises US farmers to ‘get bigger tractors’ as Beijing promises to buy more American agricultural products
US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has ‘very good discussions’ on opening up of China’s financial services markets



Donald Trump advises US farmers to ‘get bigger tractors’ as Beijing promises to buy more American agricultural products.


US-China trade war: All stories

US-China relations