Amid a 90-day tariff truce between China and the United States since December, the three-day talks ended on Thursday with Beijing promising to import a large number of American products and services, reported CNBC.
China has pledged to “purchase a substantial amount of agricultural, energy, manufactured goods, and other products and services from the United States,” said the Office of the United States Trade Representative in a statement after the talks.
The Associated Press, however, reported that world markets dropped as there was no clarity on whether progress had been made to end the trade war between the two countries, despite the talks being extended by a day.
The United States and China had been engaged in a trade war over the last year after United States President Donald Trump accused Beijing of indulging in unfair trade practices. The US imposed tariffs on more than $250 billion worth of Chinese goods. China responded by targeting US goods valued at $110 billion, the BBC reported. The truce was called at the G20 meet in December after Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping agreed not to impose new tariffs on each other.
Among the United States’ main demands was that China stop forcing technology transfers and respect intellectual property rights. No breakthroughs were announced in this regard. The Chinese commerce ministry merely said the talks had been “detailed and extensive” and that a foundation had been laid for resolution of each other’s concerns. Both sides have agreed to stay in close contact, the ministry’s statement said, but there was no hint of any further talks.
“It’s been a good one for us,” Ted McKinney, US Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs, said after the talks. He said the discussions “went just fine”, PTI reported.
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