Thursday, February 6, 2020

China to Cut Tariffs on $75 Billion of U.S. Goods

China said it would slash tariffs on $75 billion of U.S. imports in half as part of its efforts to implement a recently signed trade agreement with Washington.

Beginning Feb. 14, China will cut tariffs on some U.S. goods to 5% from 10%, while levies on some other items will be reduced to 2.5% from 5%, China's Ministry of Finance said Thursday.

The tariff cuts come amid growing doubts about Beijing's ability to follow through on the phase-one trade deal, in which China has pledged to boost its purchases of American merchandise and services by $200 billion over two years.

As a condition of Beijing signing the initial trade deal, inked on Jan. 15, the U.S. agreed to cut tariffs on $120 billion of Chinese goods by half, to 7.5%, within about 30 days, and to forgo other planned tariffs.

Beijing agreed to buy an additional $200 billion in goods, split across 2020 and 2021, with $77 billion in additional trade the first year and $123 billion the second year.

Over the two years, China agreed to boost its purchasing of U.S. goods above 2017 levels, including an increase of about $78 billion in manufacturing, $32 billion in agriculture, $52 billion in energy and $38 billion in services.

To fulfill the targets, U.S. exports to China would need to climb to $263 billion in 2020 and $309 billion in 2021, an increase without precedent in the history of U.S. trade.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/china-to-cut-tariffs-on-75-billion-of-u-s-goods-11580967540?mod=hp_lead_pos1

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