Trade deal must include US tariff rollback says China’s Global Times
- Beijing ‘insists’ pledge to scrap new tariffs in December cannot replace a rolling back of existing duties in phase one of hoped-for trade agreement
A Chinese state newspaper tweeted on Sunday that Beijing was insisting US tariffs must be rolled back as part of any phase one trade deal with Washington.
In a tweet which did not link to any related article, Global Times – a nationalist tabloid affiliated with Communist Party mouthpiece People’s Daily – cited unnamed sources and said a US pledge to scrap a new round of tariffs due to take effect on December 15 could not replace the rollback of tariffs.
Analysts said that, despite mixed signals from both sides over the prospect of reaching an interim deal, the tweet was a reminder of a main point of difference between the two sides that has been present in the negotiations all along.
On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump said Washington was in the “final throes” of a deal aimed at defusing a 16-month trade war with China, a few days after Chinese President Xi Jinping expressed his desire for a trade agreement. Top trade negotiators for both countries also spoke again and agreed to continue working on the remaining issues.
Trade experts and people close to the White House said last month, however, that signing of a phase one agreement may not take place until the new year as China pressed for more extensive rollbacks of tariffs. An agreement was initially expected to be completed by the end of November.
US Senate Finance Committee chairman Chuck Grassley told reporters on Tuesday that Beijing invited US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin for in-person talks in Beijing. Grassley said Lighthizer and Mnuchin were willing to go if they saw “a real chance of getting a final agreement”.
A source familiar with the trade talks also told Reuters that US officials could travel to China after Thursday’s Thanksgiving holiday in the US.