China agrees to buy more US agricultural and energy products to help narrow what has become a record bilateral trade deficit, the White House said in a joint statement with China following two days of negotiations
Hong Kong stocks rose across the board on Monday after US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the US trade war with China was now “on hold”, after the world’s largest economies agreed to drop their tariff threats while they work on a wider trade agreement. Mainland stocks rose to their highest level in over five weeks.
China has agreed to buy more US agricultural and energy products to help narrow what has become a record bilateral trade deficit, the White House said in a joint statement with China following two days of negotiations.
Chinese Vice-Premier Liu He was quoted by the official Xinhua news agency as saying: “This is a positive, pragmatic, constructive and fruitful visit. Both sides have reached a consensus on the healthy development of Sino-US trade relations.”
Macquarie said in research report that the joint statement was a positive move, as new tariffs were not imminent, helping to ease market concerns of a trade war. It still lacked details, however, and talks should continue.
A package deal on the final solution is expected to include a plan for China to buy more US goods and services such as energy and agricultural goods, which could initially amount to US$200 billion worth, but comes with the condition that the US should loosen its restriction on hi-tech exports.
