U.S., China agree 'Phase 1' trade deal; Trump suspends October tariff hike

By Jeff Mason and David Lawder

 

China's Vice Premier Liu He speaks with U.S. President Donald Trump during a meeting in the Oval Office at the White House after two days of trade negotiations in Washington, U.S., October 11, 2019. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States and China agreed on Friday to the first phase of a deal to end a trade war, prompting President Donald Trump to suspend a threatened tariff hike, but officials said the agreement had to be put on paper and more work was required to get it finalized.

 

The partial accord, covering agriculture, currency and some aspects of intellectual property protections, represented the biggest step toward resolution of a 15-month tariff war between the world's two largest economies that has hit financial markets and slowed global growth.

 

The announcement did not include many details, however, and Trump said it could take up to five weeks to get the deal written.

 

"We will not sign an agreement unless we get and can tell the president that this is on paper," U.S. 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, Trump told reporters that the two sides were very close to ending their trade dispute.

 

"There was a lot of friction between the United States and China, and now it’s a lovefest. That’s a good thing,” he said.

 

Trump spoke after two days of high-level negotiations in Washington between Mnuchin and Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and a delegation led by Liu on the Chinese side.

 

Mnuchin said that Trump had agreed not to proceed with a hike in tariffs to 30% from 25% on about $250 billion in Chinese goods that was supposed to have gone into effect on Tuesday.

 

But Lighthizer said Trump had not made a decision about tariffs that were subject to go into effect in December.

 

When asked about those tariffs, Trump said: "I think that we’re going to have a deal that’s a great deal that’s beyond tariffs."

 

Trump had previously insisted he would not be satisfied with a partial deal to resolve his two-year effort to change China's trade, intellectual property and industrial policy practices, which he argues cost millions of U.S. jobs.

 

U.S. stocks ended more than 1% higher on Friday but well off the day's highs after the announcement, with the S&P 500 <.SPX> up 1.09% after rising as much as 1.7% earlier on hopes of a deal.

 

DUTIES

 

Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are both scheduled to attend a Nov. 16 summit of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation countries in Santiago, Chile.

 

Both sides have imposed duties on hundreds of billions of dollars of goods during their dispute, but there have been positive signs in recent days.

 

China's securities regulator on Friday unveiled a firm timetable for scrapping foreign ownership limits in futures, securities and mutual fund companies for the first time. Increasing foreign access to the sector is among the U.S. demands at the trade talks.

 

Beijing previously said it would further open up its financial sector on its own terms and at its own pace.

 

On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed net sales of 142,172 tonnes of U.S. pork to China in the week ended Oct. 3, the largest weekly sale to the world's top pork market on record.

 

(Additional reporting by Michael Martina in Beijing and Echo Wang in Washington; Writing by Sonya Hepinstall; Editing by Paul Simao and Alistair Bell)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-10-12

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I will believe it when I see it

44 minutes ago, Tug said:

I will believe it when I see it

but officials said the agreement had to be put on paper

 

so again more BS until it actually is scripted and signed.

Trump needs some movement in trade for 2020 and China knows this, it's a win for China, they will get what they want while Trump will boast about the icing on the cake as being a substantial gain for America while China eats the whole cake, it will be NK all over again.

So they’ll end up right back where they were tradewise in 2016 and Trump will market this as a victory...

Trump canceled the tariffs due to go in place in five days. In return he got . . .??? Nothing in writing. He caved. Sure the Chinese will buy more pork. They're starving with their own pork being decimated by disease. And which company will the Chinese import most of their pork from in the US? Answer: Smithfield Foods, a wholly owned subsidiary of WH Group, which is a Chinese company.  Trump just tied W. Bush as the dumbest president in US history. Neither man could break 85 on an IQ test.

 

Oh, and yes, expect all the food exports to China to inflate food costs in the US for Americans. 

Edited October 12, 20196 yr by zydeco

5 hours ago, Tug said:

I will believe it when I see it

be patient, just wait a couple days and he will start the rampage/blaming/mood swings, meaning the natural behavior will be back

1 hour ago, samran said:

So they’ll end up right back where they were tradewise in 2016 and Trump will market this as a victory...

that's called the art of the deal... it happen with Canada. Mexico, Japan and now China but he's the master of the deal and unfortunately POTUS

2 minutes ago, Mavideol said:

be patient, just wait a couple days and he will start the rampage/blaming/mood swings, meaning the natural behavior will be back

That's the optimistic attitude that will propel the future. ????????????????

7 minutes ago, Mavideol said:

be patient, just wait a couple days and he will start the rampage/blaming/mood swings, meaning the natural behavior will be back

There is a method to his madness. The stock market, in particular the S&P 500, where he holds most of money in an S&P 500 tracking ETF that is "in a blind trust." The trust being "blind," Trump is not supposed to know or be able to manipulate its holdings. Except, of course, he can see the S&P every day and he does manipulate it every day with his tweeting. That is why every time the stock market drops five percent or so that he starts threatening the Fed and demanding zero interest rates or starts talking about "trade talks going very well," which drives the algos to buy up the S&P again. And now he will do this for as long as he is president. Instead of just "trade talks," we now get Phase 2 and Phase 3 and god forbid if he gets a second term probably phases 4 through infinity. Why aren't the Democrats impeaching him over his blatant stock market manipulation?

Edited October 12, 20196 yr by zydeco

am a little surprised he didn't start any rampage against the Nobel Peace Price winner, was expecting him to say the Nobel Price organization is rigged, he deserved it and should have it because he met with Kim... let's wait and see, it may come out of his big mouth

2 minutes ago, zydeco said:

There is a method to his madness. The stock market, in particular the S&P 500, where he holds most of money that is "in a blind trust." The trust being "blind," Trump is not supposed to know or be able to manipulate its holdings. Except, of course, he can see the S&P every day and he does manipulate it every day with his tweeting. That is why every time the stock market drops five percent or so that he starts threatening the Fed and demanding zero interest rates or starts talking about "trade talks going very well," which drives the algos to buy up the S&P again. And now he will do this for as long as he is president. Instead of just "trade talks," we now get Phase 2 and Phase 3 and god forbid if he gets a second term probably phases 4 through infinity. Why aren't the Democrats impeaching him over his blatant stock market manipulation?

am with you wondering why Pelosi is waiting so long.... impeach and (immediately) remove

1 minute ago, Mavideol said:

am with you wondering why Pelosi is waiting so long.... impeach and (immediately) remove

This is like having Caligula or Nero in the White House. Does DC have to burn before we get rid of him?

4 hours ago, soalbundy said:

Trump needs some movement in trade for 2020 and China knows this, it's a win for China, they will get what they want while Trump will boast about the icing on the cake as being a substantial gain for America while China eats the whole cake, it will be NK all over again.

I don't agree.  I think it's the chinese that have run out of options.  

And of course China now says there is no deal. Negotiations need to continue. I know this may surprise some people, but, yes, it looks like Trump lied. Again. And just to pump up the markets and enrich himself with his ETF that tracks the S&P 500. Put this man in jail.

 

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/china-wants-more-talks-before-signing-trumps-phase-1-deal-report-says-2019-10-14