China: US agrees not to impose new tariffs
Chinese state media said the US and Chinese leaders agreed to restart dialogue and Washington would stop imposing new tariffs.
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US President (left) and Chinese President before the meeting on the morning of June 29. Photo:Reuters. |
"The leaders agreed that China and the United States should resume economic and trade dialogues on the basis of equality and mutual respect," China's Xinhua news agency reported today, saying that US President Donald Trump had agreed not to impose additional tariffs on Chinese goods during the two countries' negotiations.
The statement came after an hour-long meeting between President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Japan.The US delegation has not confirmed this information and is expected to announce the meeting results at 3:30 p.m. today (1:30 p.m. Hanoi time).
The Trump-Xi meeting is a highly anticipated event at the G20 Summit, as many people expect it will help the US and China break the deadlock in trade negotiations and possibly contribute to ending the fierce trade war between the two countries.
At the beginning of the meeting, Trump expressed hope to reach a "historic agreement" with Mr. Tap, while the Chinese President said he would exchange with the US President "views on fundamental issues related to the development of US-China relations, in order to guide the relationship in the coming period".
After the discussion ended, Trump said "it was a very, very good meeting, better than expected. We're back on track," but did not elaborate.
If the news that the US will stop imposing new tariffs on China is confirmed, it could be considered a new "ceasefire" between the two countries in the trade war that has lasted for more than a year. A similar "ceasefire" was also agreed upon by the two leaders at the G20 Summit last year, paving the way for bilateral trade negotiations.
However, trade talks between the two countries collapsed in May when Washington accused Beijing of backtracking on commitments in an earlier draft agreement, while China blamed the US for the failure to reach a deal. Trump then imposed 25% tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports to the US. In response, China raised tariffs on $60 billion worth of US goods.
