China says part of phase one trade deal with US 'basically completed'
China said key parts of the text for phase one of the trade deal with the U.S. are “basically completed” following Friday’s conference call between negotiators from the world’s two largest economies.
During the talks between U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and China’s Vice Premier Liu He, the two sides “agreed to properly resolve their core concerns and confirmed that the technical consultations on some of the texts were basically completed,” China’s Ministry of Commerce said in a statement.
Earlier in the day, the U.S. Trade Representative’s office said in a statement that the U.S. and China are “close to finalizing some sections.” The negotiators are expected to hold another call in the “near future.”
According to the statement from Beijing, the countries reached an agreement about the U.S. regulatory system for importing cooked poultry and squid products from China. China will also remove its ban on importing American poultry meats and apply the public health information systems for meat products.
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Also expected to be included in the partial deal are Chinese concessions on intellectual property, financial services and agriculture. In exchange, the U.S. agreed not to impose another round of tariffs on Chinese goods on Oct. 15.
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Trump, who said he wants to sign the first phase of the deal with China at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Chile, has said a comprehensive trade deal will have two or three phases.
“We had excellent talks this morning. That will continue,” Peter Navarro, Trump’s trade adviser, told Fox News on Friday.
FOX Business’ R.N. White and Jonathan Garber contributed to this report.