Washington and Beijing are set to finalize the first part of their trade agreement on Tuesday, paving the way for a comprehensive accord that may end the long-running trade war between the world’s two biggest economies.
Since the two sides reached the trade breakthrough in December, they have been further reviewing and translating the document. On Sunday, Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin announced that Beijing’s commitments had not changed during the translation and said the official text is set to be available on the day of the signing.
It was announced earlier that China has agreed to boost purchases of American products to the total of US$200 billion over the next two years. The increases in imports will span four industries, according to sources cited by South China Morning Post and Politico. Manufactured goods are expected to see the highest increase, with China reportedly pledging to buy $75 billion worth of the products. Additionally, Beijing will purchase $50 billion worth of energy, $40 billion in agriculture and between $35 and $40 billion in services, according to the reports.
The accord also covers such areas as intellectual property protection, technology transfer, currency, and market access to key sectors in the Chinese economy.
For its part, China has been very cautious with public comments on the matter and is yet to confirm its purchase commitments. Last week, Beijing said that it was not going to increase its annual import quotas for corn, wheat, or rice, raising some concerns that it would therefore be difficult to fulfil its pledges on farm goods.
