China’s foreign minister said Friday that the country would waive some of the punitive tariffs it has previously put on U.S. soybeans and pork, The Associated Press reports.
Beijing had agreed to lift the tariffs in September, as China and the U.S., the world’s two biggest economies, work to end the trade war that has lasted 17 months.
The two sides have been trying to iron out details of “phase one” of a new trade agreement that was announced by President Trump in October.
During the past year and a half, both the U.S. and China have introduced tariffs on billions of dollars of each other’s goods, resulting in economic consequences for both.
According to the AP, Chinese spokespeople have signaled that they hope to get a new trade agreement finalized quickly, though Trump caused a disruption in the global markets this week when he suggested that he might wait until after the 2020 presidential election to complete the deal.
Trump has scheduled tariffs on an additional $160 billion of Chinese goods to go into effect Dec. 15, but Beijing has remained firm in its stance that the U.S. must roll back its tariffs as well if a deal is to occur, the AP reports.