China, U.S. Report Positive Progress in Trade Talks

Beijing — China and the United States have achieved positive initial outcomes in their latest economic and trade consultations, China’s Ministry of Commerce said on Saturday.

Responding to media inquiries, a ministry spokesperson said the economic and trade teams of the two countries had reached preliminary consensus in five key areas during their recent discussions.

According to the spokesperson, China and the United States agreed to continue implementing the outcomes reached in previous talks and formed a positive consensus on relevant tariff arrangements.

The two countries will also establish trade and investment councils to address their respective concerns in trade and investment cooperation. Through the trade council, both sides will discuss issues such as tariff reductions on specific products. They have agreed in principle to reduce tariffs on products of mutual concern on an equivalent scale.

The two sides also agreed to resolve, or make substantive progress toward resolving, non-tariff barriers and market access issues involving certain agricultural products.

The United States will actively work to address long-standing Chinese concerns, including automatic detention measures targeting Chinese dairy and aquatic products, exports of media-grown bonsai to the U.S. market, and recognition of avian influenza-free zones in Shandong Province in eastern China.

China, for its part, will actively advance solutions to U.S. concerns regarding beef facility registration and poultry exports from certain U.S. states to China.

The two countries also agreed to promote two-way trade, including agricultural trade, through arrangements such as mutual tariff reductions on a range of products.

In the aviation sector, the two sides reached arrangements related to China’s purchase of aircraft from the United States, as well as U.S. guarantees for the supply of aircraft engines and related parts to China. Both sides agreed to continue advancing cooperation in relevant areas.

The spokesperson said the two sides are still consulting on the details of the outcomes reached so far. Economic and trade teams from both countries will work to finalize the results at an early date and jointly ensure their implementation in line with the consensus reached by the two heads of state.

The ministry said the aim is to inject greater certainty and stability into China–U.S. economic and trade cooperation and the global economy.