AFP, Hong Kong :
Equity markets and oil prices rose on Thursday after China said it had agreed with the United States on a plan to gradually remove each other’s tariffs, fuelling hopes they can resolve a trade war that has roiled the global economy.
Broad optimism that the economic superpowers would soon complete part one of a wider agreement has been the basis of a rally in global equities for several weeks. And that confidence was boosted by commerce ministry spokesman Gao Feng saying on Thursday that they had decided to remove levies on each other’s imports in phases as negotiations go on.
“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,” he said.
“If China and the US 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.”
China and the US have been locked on a painful trade war for a year and a half, hitting each other with tariffs on hundreds-of-billions-of-dollars-worth of goods and damaging economies around the world, fuelling worries of a global recession. While the current talks were considered on track and ready to soon be signed off by Donald Trump and Xi Jinping, the removal of some tariffs had been a key stipulation by China. The Financial Times and Wall Street Journal earlier this week said the White House was considering dropping existing tariffs on more than $100 billion of imports to seal an agreement.
Equity markets and oil prices rose on Thursday after China said it had agreed with the United States on a plan to gradually remove each other’s tariffs, fuelling hopes they can resolve a trade war that has roiled the global economy.
Broad optimism that the economic superpowers would soon complete part one of a wider agreement has been the basis of a rally in global equities for several weeks. And that confidence was boosted by commerce ministry spokesman Gao Feng saying on Thursday that they had decided to remove levies on each other’s imports in phases as negotiations go on.
“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,” he said.
“If China and the US 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.”
China and the US have been locked on a painful trade war for a year and a half, hitting each other with tariffs on hundreds-of-billions-of-dollars-worth of goods and damaging economies around the world, fuelling worries of a global recession. While the current talks were considered on track and ready to soon be signed off by Donald Trump and Xi Jinping, the removal of some tariffs had been a key stipulation by China. The Financial Times and Wall Street Journal earlier this week said the White House was considering dropping existing tariffs on more than $100 billion of imports to seal an agreement.
