In what will be the beginning of the signing of a partial trade deal involving China and the United States, the Chinese government is seeking for a tariff roll back in the region of $360 Billion of Chinese imports. This is the basis upon which President Xi Jinping with meet his United State colleague for the signing of the trade agreement. As requested by the Chinese negotiators, the United States government is expected to eliminate $110 Billion of tariffs on September trade, while there’s also a 25% of another $250 Billion in tariff that began last year.
Beijing also expects the United States to temporarily waive some tariffs. The theory of reciprocity will be in play here as the Chinese government will also be overlooking tariffs on United States good, which are majorly agricultural products. This is in additional to an earlier request of the Chinese government that import duties amounting to around $160 billion which are on fast moving gadgets such as Laptops and smartphones be waived. All of these are the basis of the meeting between President Xi Jinping and Donald Trump.
However, according to Reuters, the 16 month trade rift between the two world largest economies may linger beyond now as President Donald Trump was reported to have said that he has not agreed to any tariff roll back between the United States and China. He went on to say that China may get close to a rollback but it won’t be a total rollback of tariffs. Donald Trump is well aware of the need by China to get a favorable deal out of the tariff rollback but he noted that through tariffs, the United States is generating billions into the government coffers.
Despite the stand of the Donald Trump administration, the Chinese government is insisting that there won’t be any deal without the tariff rollback. It is important to note that both the United States and the Chinese government are expectant of the “Phase One” deal. While the United States is looking forward to Chinese purchase of United States agricultural products coupled with solving issues surrounding technology transfer and intellectual theft. The Chinese position is however clear, rollback of the current tariffs and total removal of tariffs on Chinese trades. Observers are of the opinion that the requirement of the Chinese could wreak havoc for the global economy.
So far, there is no set date and location for the said agreement between Washington and Beijing. Yet, negotiators of both side are working tirelessly to be able to reach agreements that are favorable to the two countries while having the global economy in mind. As a show of faith, the Chinese government sentence three Chinese nationals to the maximum sentences for smuggling fentanyl into the United States. Long before now, the Chinese government was being criticized for not doing enough to curb the flow of fentanyl into the United States.
