China says it has agreed with U.S. to cancel tariffs in phases
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[November 07, 2019]
By Yawen Chen and Martin Pollard
BEIJING (Reuters) - China and the United
States have agreed to cancel in phases the tariffs imposed during their
months-long trade war, the Chinese commerce ministry said on Thursday,
without specifying a timetable.
An interim U.S.-China trade deal is widely expected to include a U.S.
pledge to scrap tariffs scheduled for Dec. 15 on about $156 billion
worth of Chinese imports, including cell phones, laptop computers and
toys.
Tariff cancellation was an important condition for any agreement,
ministry spokesman Gao Feng said, adding that both must simultaneously
cancel some tariffs on each other's goods to reach a "phase one" trade
deal.
"The trade war started with tariffs, and should end with the
cancellation of tariffs," Gao told a regular news briefing.
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The proportion of tariffs canceled for both sides to reach a "phase one"
deal must be the same, but the number to be canceled can be negotiated,
he added, without elaborating.
"In the past two weeks, the lead negotiators from both sides have had
serious and constructive discussions on resolving various core concerns
appropriately," Gao said.
"Both sides have agreed to cancel additional tariffs in different
phases, as both sides make progress in their negotiations."
He did not give a timeline.
In what could be another gesture to boost optimism, China's state news
agency Xinhua reported late on Thursday that the Chinese customs and the
Ministry of Agriculture are considering removing restrictions on U.S.
poultry imports.[B9N26I016]
China has banned all U.S. poultry and eggs since January 2015 due to an
avian influenza outbreak.
Beijing's signal that a 'phase 1' trade deal with the United States was
close to being sealed helped Europe's share markets hit a more than
4-year peak on Thursday and bond yields shuffled higher.
TRUMP-XI MEETING
A source previously told Reuters that Chinese negotiators wanted the
United States to drop 15% tariffs on about $125 billion worth of Chinese
goods that took effect on Sept. 1.
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![](../images/110719pics/news_L21.jpg)
China's Ministry of Commerce spokesperson Gao Feng attends a news
conference at the commerce ministry in Beijing, China, June 19,
2018. REUTERS/Thomas Peter
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They also sought relief from earlier 25% tariffs on about $250
billion of imports, ranging from machinery and semiconductors to
furniture.
A person familiar with China's negotiating position said it was
pressing Washington to "remove all tariffs as soon as possible".
A deal may be signed this month by U.S. President Donald Trump and
Chinese President Xi Jinping at a yet-to-be determined location.
Dozens of venues have been suggested for a meeting, which had
originally been set to take place on the sidelines of a now-canceled
mid-November summit of Asia-Pacific leaders in Chile, a senior Trump
administration official told Reuters on Wednesday.
One possible location was London, where the leaders could meet after
a NATO summit that Trump is due to attend from Dec. 3-4, the
official said.
Gao declined to say when and where such a meeting could be.
Since Trump took office in 2017, his administration has been
pressing China to curb massive subsidies to state-owned firms and
end the forced transfer of American technology to Chinese firms as a
price of doing business in China.
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(Reporting by Yawen Chen and Martin Pollard; Writing by Ryan Woo;
Editing by Kim Coghill, Clarence Fernandez & Simon Cameron-Moore)
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