Washington: US President Donald Trump signed a trade agreement on Wednesday with China that is expected to boost exports from American farmers and manufacturers and is aimed at lowering tensions in a long-running dispute between the economic powers.
Trump said during a White House ceremony that the deal is "righting the wrongs of the past". He promoted the signing as a way of delivering economic justice for American workers and said, "We mark a sea change in international trade" with the signing.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping, in a letter to Trump that was read by Beijing's chief negotiator Liu He, said concluding the first phase of the trade deal was "good for China, the US and for the whole world."
But the “Phase 1” trade agreement would do little to force China to make the major economic changes such as reducing unfair subsidies for its own companies that the Trump administration sought when it started the trade war by imposing tariffs on Chinese imports in July 2018.
The White House ceremony gave Trump a chance to cite progress on a top economic priority on the same day that the House prepared to vote to send articles of impeachment to the Senate for a trial.
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“Our efforts have yielded a transformative deal that will bring benefits to both countries,'' Trump said. He added, "Keeping these two giants and powerful nations together in harmony is so important for the world."
The agreement is intended to ease some of the US economic sanctions on China while Beijing would step up purchases of American farm products and other goods. Trump cited beef, pork, poultry, seafood, rice and dairy products as examples.
The deal would lower tensions in a trade dispute that has slowed global growth, hurt American manufacturers and weighed on the Chinese economy.
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