Us China Trade War Over Rejoice

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China and the United States have agreed to remove most tariffs imposed since April 2 – a breakthrough following high-stakes talks that could help resolve a trade war that had raised import duties to unprecedented levels.

The two countries made the announcement in a joint statement on Monday.

The agreement lowers the US’ additional tariff rates on Chinese goods to 30 per cent, and Chinese duties on US imports to 10 per cent, on top of some retaliatory levies imposed earlier on selected American goods.

“We have substantially moved down the tariff levels,” said US Treasury Secretary in a press conference held shortly after the statement’s release. “Neither side wants a decoupling.”

According to the joint statement, both China and the US pledged to remove 91 percentage points of the April tariffs and suspend a further 24 percentage points for the next 90 days, leaving 10 percentage points of the duties in place, effective Wednesday.

Separately, the 20 per cent duties on Chinese goods imposed by US President Donald Trump before April in the name of stopping flows of the illegal drug fentanyl will remain in effect.
My Comments:
This is the second major feather in the cap for President Trump within two days. The other one being the Indo-Pak ceasefire. 
More important than the actual details are the cordial meetings, the joint press statements, the willingness to sit down together and the eagerness to close a workable deal. The details will follow through.
If a deal is not doable or workable then it will not happen. If a deal is doable there must be mutual benefit. 
The US and China are major trading partners. If the US and China can work out their trade differences then all the other countries around the world who are only minor trading partners with the US better take note. I doubt any of them can out negotiate China.
The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.
By Syed Akbar Ali 

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