The Washington State China Relations Council welcomes the signing of the Phase One Trade Deal with China. The Council sees the agreement as a modest step in getting the two economies back to business, however, the deal does not address the underlying issues of conflict between the two countries.
Under the terms of the agreement China has pledged to purchase $200 billion of US products along with commitments to address intellectual property and currency concerns as well as to improve market access in sectors such as financial services. The US will cancel tariffs that had been scheduled to be enforced on Dec. 15, 2019 and cut in half a previous round of 15 percent tariffs on $120 billion worth of products.
Key issues, such as subsidies and industrial policies were not included in this agreement and remain major sources of friction between the two countries. These issues will supposedly be tackled in the Phase 2 discussions which have yet to be scheduled.
WSCRC will host an event “Unpacking the U.S. – China Phase 1 Trade Deal” on February 6th in Seattle to exam the newly signed agreement and to outline opportunities for Washington State Companies. Please REGISTER HERE.