Tuesday, December 31, 2019
–
After almost two years of trade war, a first agreement is now to be signed. The ceremony is scheduled to take place in the White House. Donald Trump should like this eight months before the US presidential election.
The first part of a comprehensive trade agreement with China is scheduled to be signed at the White House on January 15. Beijing will send a senior representative for the signing, US President Donald Trump tweeted. Trump will continue to travel to Beijing later to negotiate a second follow-up agreement.
It is the first time that one of the parties to the dispute has announced a specific date for signing the agreement. Both sides had declared in mid-December that after a long struggle they had agreed on a first trade agreement. The exact content of the partial agreement has not yet been published.
According to the US, China is committed to increasing imports from the U.S. by $ 200 billion over two years. Of this, at least $ 40 billion a year is expected to benefit US farmers – an important group for Trump with a view to the November election. There should also be agreements on the topics of intellectual property, technology transfer and exchange rates.
More armistice than solution
Trump had already announced a partial agreement in October in the trade conflict with China that had been going on for around a year and a half. The signing in November did not come about.
The deal, experts say, is more like a ceasefire than a trade conflict resolution for the two largest economies in the world. No new import fees are now imposed, but much of the punitive tariffs imposed since 2018 will continue to be levied. Observers believe that it will be very difficult to conclude a second agreement given the complex issues still outstanding.
– ,
