U.S. and China Have Agreed To Roll Back Tariffs in Phases

Nov. 7, 2019 (EIRNS)—Today in Beijing, Chinese Commerce Ministry spokesman Gao Feng reported that China and the United States have agreed to remove additional tariffs in phases, once their leaders sign an interim deal towards ending the trade dispute. “In the past two weeks, top negotiators had serious, constructive discussions and agreed to remove the additional tariffs in phases as progress is made on the agreement,” Gao Feng said. “The trade war started with tariffs and should end with the cancellation of tariffs,” said Gao, who stated that phase one of a trade deal must include both countries simultaneously canceling tariffs on each other’s goods.

“If China and the U.S. reach a phase-one deal, both sides should roll back existing additional tariffs in the same proportion simultaneously based on the content of the agreement, which is an important condition for reaching the agreement,” Gao was quoted as saying by Bloomberg.

Bloomberg later reported that a U.S. official who requested anonymity confirmed the Chinese statement from the U.S. side.

Gao said that both sides could decide how much would be scrapped in the first phase based on the content of the agreement. “Economic and trade teams from both sides have been in constant communication. We hope to resolve our issues of core concern in an equal and mutually respectful manner,” he said, reported South China Morning Post.