City
Epaper

Mnuchin praises 'historic' 1st phase trade deal with China

By IANS | Published: December 15, 2019 10:10 AM

US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin applauded the "historic" first stage of the trade agreement with China to mitigate the trade conflict between the two economic giants since last year.

Open in App

"We finally have completed what I consider to be a historic phase one trade agreement," Mnuchin said while addressing the Doha Forum on Saturday.

Mnuchin's remarks came a day after both countries announced they had reached an agreement to settle the trade dispute that has had profound global consequences, reports Efe news.

The latest global growth forecasts lowered projections of expansion to 3 per cent this year, 0.2 less than in July, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) figures published in October.

"Let me just say this deals with intellectual property this deals with technology transfer it deals with structure agricultural issues, financial services are opening up currency, understandings as well as a commitment to purchase US agriculture and US goods," Mnuchin added.

The senior US official revealed that phase one of the deal is expected to be fully implemented in January 2020, with the negotiations over a second phase to begin after.

"The deal with China is about creating a more reciprocal trading relationship. For a very long period of time the US was open to China, China was not open to the US.

"There were very strong restrictions and for the first and second largest economy in the world, there should be more reciprocal trading back and forth and that's what we've been working on, and I think both these agreements will not only be good for the US, but will be very good for global growth," he added.

Following the announcement on Friday, President Donald Trump said in a series of tweets: "We have agreed to a very large Phase One Deal with China.

"They have agreed to many structural changes and massive purchases of Agricultural Product, Energy, and Manufactured Goods, plus much more.

"The 25 per cent Tariffs will remain as is, with 7.5 per cent put on much of the remainder the Penalty Tariffs set for December 15th will not be charged because of the fact that we made the deal.

"We will begin negotiations on the Phase Two Deal immediately, rather than waiting until after the 2020 Election. This is an amazing deal for all. Thank you."

( With inputs from IANS )

Tags: uschinamnuchinDonald Trump
Open in App

Related Stories

InternationalUS: 12-Year-Old Boy Receives World's First Commercially Approved Gene Therapy for Sickle Cell Disease

InternationalTaiwan Detects 2 Chinese Aircraft Breaching Its Air Defence Identification Zone (See Tweet)

Social ViralTornado in US: Dashcam Records Terrifying Video of Cyclonic Storm Devastating Warehouse in Nebraska

InternationalChina's Gold Rush: Surging Demand Lifts Prices to Record Highs

InternationalTaiwan Detects Seven Chinese Military Aircraft, Five Naval Vessels Across the Nation (See Tweet)

International Realted Stories

InternationalUkrainian attacks with British weapons will invite retaliation, Russia tells UK

International"World trying to influence our elections...won't be successful": PM Modi

InternationalPakistan Muslim League-Nawaz supremo Nawaz Sharif summons meeting over wheat scandal

InternationalPML-N leader Sheikh Jaffar Mandokhail sworn in as Balochistan Governor

InternationalNHRC India strives to improve human rights, strengthen National Human Rights Institutions