U.S. and China Reach Agreement on Phase One of Trade Deal, Trump Confirms

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President Donald Trump announced Friday morning that the United States and China have reached an agreement on phase one of a trade deal between the world's two largest economies. The deal comes after more than a year and a half of negotiations on tariffs, access to markets and concerns over intellectual property theft.

The exact terms of the agreement between the U.S. and China were not released, but at least part of them will include the U.S. rolling back some of the tariffs that were levied on Chinese goods over the last year, according to China's Vice Commerce Minister Wang Shouwen.

Stocks on Wall Street initially jumped at the good news, but those gains were rolled back as the market continued to digest the details of the deal.

"We have agreed to a very large Phase One Deal with China," Trump tweeted Friday morning. "They have agreed to many structural changes and massive purchases of Agricultural Product, Energy, and Manufactured Goods, plus much more. The 25% Tariffs will remain as is, with 7 1/2% put on much of the remainder. The Penalty Tariffs set for December 15th will not be charged because of the fact that we made the deal. We will begin negotiations on the Phase Two Deal immediately, rather than waiting until after the 2020 Election. This is an amazing deal for all. Thank you!"

China has indicated it too will consider canceling its retaliatory tariffs that were set to go into effect on Sunday, Vice Finance Minister Liao Min said. The deal also includes increased agricultural purchases by China as tariffs levied by the United States are rolled back in phases. Both sides would also move to make changes related to intellectual property, technology transfers, and financial services.

Washington D.C. and Beijing have both said they want to work through the legal process and move to sign the deal as quickly as possible.

"President Trump has focused on concluding a Phase One agreement that achieves meaningful, fully-enforceable structural changes and begins rebalancing the U.S.-China trade relationship," U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said in a statement. 

Photo: Getty Images


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