US-China trade deal cuts tariffs for Beijing promise of big farm purchases

The United States and China cooled their trade war on Friday, announcing a “Phase one” agreement that reduces some US tariffs in exchange for what US officials said would be a big jump in Chinese purchases of American farm products and other goods.

Beijing has agreed to import at least $200 billion in additional US goods and services over the next two years on top of the amount it purchased in 2017, the top US trade negotiator said Friday, according to Reuters.

If the purchases are made, they would represent a huge jump in U.S. exports to China. China bought $130 billion in US goods in 2017, before the trade war began, and $56 billion in services, U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis data show.

In return, the United States would suspend tariffs on Chinese goods due to go into effect on Sunday and reduce others, U.S. officials said. The 86-page agreement is due to be signed the first week of January in Washington by principal negotiators.

“We have agreed to a very large Phase One Deal with China,” US President Donald Trump tweeted Friday morning. Officials in China have “agreed to many structural changes and massive purchases of Agricultural Product, Energy, and Manufactured Goods, plus much more,” he said.