President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping announced Saturday evening a 90-day pause on new tariff actions as the two countries attempt to finalize an agreement on intellectual property, technology theft, and non-tariff trade barriers.
The White House announced the agreement in a statement following Trump and Xi’s working dinner in Argentina as part of the Group of 20 (G-20) summit.
“President Trump and President Xi have agreed to immediately begin negotiations on structural changes with respect to forced technology transfer, intellectual property protection, non-tariff barriers, cyber intrusions and cyber theft, services and agriculture,” the White House said in a statement.
{mosads}”China will agree to purchase a not yet agreed upon, but very substantial, amount of agricultural, energy, industrial, and other product from the United States to reduce the trade imbalance between our two countries,” the statement continued, adding that “China has agreed to start purchasing agricultural product from our farmers immediately.”
If the two countries cannot reach a deal within 90 days, the White House says, existing 10 percent tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods will be increased to 25 percent.
“This was an amazing and productive meeting with unlimited possibilities for both the United States and China. It is my great honor to be working with President Xi,” Trump said in a statement released by the White House.
News of an agreement and further planned trade negotiations between Trump and China’s leader come following months of back-and-forth tariff actions by both administrations, with the U.S. accusing China of intellectual property theft from U.S. companies operating in the country as well as other unfair trade practices.
China retaliated with billions of dollars’ worth of tariffs targeting American manufacturing and agricultural exports, specifically targeting products exported by Trump-supporting red states to put pressure on the U.S. president.
Trump had previously celebrated billions of dollars “pouring into the coffers of the U.S.A. because of the Tariffs being charged to China” on a tweet on Thursday, while White House advisers had talked about hopes for a breakthrough in the trade dispute ahead of the G-20 summit.
The president also signed a major trade agreement with the leaders of Canada and Mexico this week, though that deal must still be reviewed by the Senate.