Tariffs to be eased out in phases before trade deal

CHINA and the United States have agreed to cancel in phases the tariffs imposed during their months-long trade war, the Chinese commerce ministry said yesterday.

Tariff cancelation was an important condition for any agreement, ministry spokesman Gao Feng said, adding that both must simultaneously cancel some tariffs on each other’s goods to reach a “phase one” trade deal.

“The trade war started with tariffs, and should end with the cancellation of tariffs,” Gao told a regular news briefing.

The proportion of tariffs canceled for both sides to reach a “phase one” deal must be the same, but the number to be canceled can be negotiated, he added.

“In the past two weeks, the lead negotiators from both sides have had serious and constructive discussions on resolving various core concerns appropriately,” Gao said.

“Both sides have agreed to cancel additional tariffs in different phases, as both sides make progress in their negotiations.

“Doing so will help stabilize the market expectations, and benefit the two countries and the world’s economies,” Gao added.

“It will benefit both producers and consumers.”

If China and the US have reached the first phase agreement, they should simultaneously cancel the imposed tariffs according to the content of the agreement at the same rate. This is an important condition for reaching an agreement, Gao stressed.

Earlier, Chinese and US chief trade negotiators held phone talks. Both sides had earnest and constructive discussions on properly addressing each other’s core concerns, and reached a principled consensus, said the spokesperson.

Meanwhile, China’s General Administration of Customs and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said they are studying lifting the restrictions on US exports of poultry products to China.

(CGTN)