China-U.S. Trade Talks: Preliminary Deals and Future Negotiations

Reuters

U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

China’s Ministry of Commerce on Saturday described the tariff, agricultural, and aircraft agreements reached during this week’s visit by U.S. President Donald Trump as “preliminary”.

President Trump left Beijing on Friday after two days of talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping that featured pageantry and warm rhetoric but limited detail on concrete outcomes across trade and investment.

In a statement published on its website, China’s Ministry of Commerce said the two sides had agreed to establish an investment board and a trade board to negotiate reciprocal, product-specific tariff reductions, as well as broader cuts on unspecified goods, including agricultural products.

The ministry also said both countries would work to address non-tariff barriers and market access issues related to agriculture.

"The U.S. side will actively promote the resolution of China's long-standing concerns regarding the automatic detention of dairy products and aquatic products, exports of bonsai in growing media to the United States, and recognizing Shandong province as an area ‌free ⁠of avian influenza," the ministry said.

"The Chinese side will also actively promote the resolution of U.S. concerns regarding registration of beef facilities and exports of poultry meat from some U.S. states to China," it added.

President Trump has said China agreed to purchase 200 Boeing aircraft, although analysts have questioned the absence of a timeline for the deal.

China’s Ministry of Commerce confirmed arrangements covering “Chinese purchases of U.S. aircraft and U.S. assurances on the supply of aircraft engines and parts to China,” without providing further details.

The ministry added that discussions on the specifics were continuing and that the agreements would be “finalised as soon as possible.”



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