US- China trade deal resolves small issues

BEIJING — A new ChinaU.S. trade deal will help sate the growing Chinese appetite for beef and allow more natural gas imports to fuel the country’s expanding economy, but it steers clear of bigger issues that would have more substantial impact on the U.S. trade deficit.

The agreement announced on Friday Beijing time appears a step toward easing discord between the world’s two largest economies. Tensions have been stoked by President Donald Trump’s aggressive rhetoric against Chinese exports and barriers to U.S. goods and investment.

It also suggests still wider room for compromise. The last item of 10 listed in a joint statement says a U.S.

delegation will attend an international gathering in Beijing, beginning Sunday, that will showcase a plan by President Xi Jinping to invest in vast networks of ports, railways and roads in a bid to expand China’s trade with Asia, Africa and Europe.

The decision to lift by no later than July 16 a ban on imported American beef imposed in 2003 over mad cow disease concerns is good news for Chinese consumers, said Peking University professor Yu Miaojie.

Homegrown cattle herds are not keeping pace with the rising demand in the increasingly prosperous country.

In turn, China will be able to send cooked poultry to the U.S. once the two sides resolve “outstanding issues” — mostly related to concerns over safety and hygiene.

On a more symbolic level, the deal reflects the positive tone of relations between Xi and Trump since their first face-to-face meeting last month in the U.S.

“China is willing to cut the trade deficits with the U.S. in order to avoid trade frictions between the two sides,” Yu said.

The new deal does not touch on issues such as Chinese exports of steel and aluminum that are a growing source of discontent over trade.

America’s trade deficit in goods and services with China totaled $310 billion last year, by far the largest imbalance with any country. The deficit with China represented about 60 percent of last year’s total deficit of $500.6 billion.

Spurred by beef’s rising popularity, particularly in urban areas, China’s 1.37 billion residents are projected to eat roughly 17.6 billion pounds of the meat this year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service. That’s up more than 40 percent in the past five years.