China says in touch with U.S. on signing of Phase 1 trade deal
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[December 19, 2019]
BEIJING (Reuters) - China and the
United States are in touch over the signing of their Phase 1 trade deal,
China's commerce ministry said, which will see lower U.S. tariffs on
Chinese goods and higher Chinese purchases of U.S. farm, energy and
manufactured goods.
The Phase 1 deal was announced last week after more than two years of
on-and-off trade talks, although neither side has released many specific
details of the agreement.
Both the Chinese and U.S. trade teams are in close communication, Gao
Feng, a spokesman at the Chinese commerce ministry, told reporters at a
regular briefing on Thursday, adding there is no specific information on
the deal to disclose currently.
"After the official signing of the deal, the content of the agreement
will be made public," Gao said.
U.S. officials say China agreed to increase purchases of U.S. products
and services by at least $200 billion over the next two years.
According to Washington, that would include additional purchases of U.S.
farm products of $32 billion over two years. That would average an
annual total of about $40 billion, compared to a baseline of $24 billion
in 2017 before the trade war started.
Chinese officials have so far not publicly confirmed much of
Washington's version - especially on goods purchase commitments. But
China said on Friday when the deal was announced that it will import
more U.S. wheat, rice, corn, energy, pharmaceuticals and financial
services.
Earlier on Thursday, China unveiled a new list of tariff exemptions for
U.S. imports, mostly chemical products, days after the world's two
largest economies announced the Phase 1 deal. China said the second part
of the waiver list will be released at an appropriate time.
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Chinese staff members adjust U.S. and Chinese flags before the
opening session of trade negotiations between U.S. and Chinese trade
representatives at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, China
February 14, 2019. Mark Schiefelbein/Pool via REUTERS
Washington said the deal also includes stronger Chinese legal
protections for patents, trademarks, copyrights, including improved
criminal and civil procedures to combat online infringement, pirated
and counterfeit goods.
The two countries have reached a consensus over the protection of
trade secrets, guarding intellectual property rights for
pharmaceutical products, and cracking down on counterfeits and
pirated goods on e-commerce platforms, Chinese Vice Minister of
Commerce Wang Shouwen said on Friday.
China will step up protection of intellectual property but at its
own pace, Wang said.
(Reporting by Stella Qiu and Martin Pollard; Writing by Ryan Woo;
Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman, Lincoln Feast and Giles Elgood)
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