WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump recently outlined the first phase
of a deal to end a trade war with China and suspended a threatened
tariff hike, but officials on both sides said much more work needed to
be done before an accord could be agreed.
The emerging deal, covering agriculture, currency and some aspects of
intellectual property protections, would represent the biggest step by
the two countries in 15 months to end a tariff tit-for-tat that has
whipsawed financial markets and slowed global growth. But the recent
announcement did not include many details and Trump said it could take
up to five weeks to get a pact written.
He acknowledged the agreement could fall apart during that period, though he expressed confidence that it would not.
"I think we have a fundamental understanding on the key issues. We've
gone through a significant amount of paper, but there is more work to
do," US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said as the two sides gathered
with Trump at the White House.
With Chinese Vice Premier Liu He sitting across a desk from him in the
Oval Office after two days of talks between negotiators, the President
told reporters that the two sides were very close to ending their trade
dispute.
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