U.S. to launch trade discussions with China, says USTR
The Hindu
China fell short of its committed purchases in 2020 by 40% and will fall short by 30% in 2021
The U.S. will begin trade discussions with China while pushing Beijing to adhere to the terms of the Trump administration’s ‘Phase I’ trade deal, U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), Katherine Tai said on Monday.
Speaking at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a Washington DC based think tank, Ms. Tai said that in talks with Beijing, the U.S. would discuss China’s “performance” under the Trump era trade deal.
“First, we will discuss with China, its performance under the Phase I agreement,” Ms Tai said, referring to a deal that came into effect in early 2020. The agreement involved China committing to purchase goods from certain U.S. sectors (agricultural, manufacturing, energy, etc.) and addressing U.S. issues with its practices around intellectual property in return for the U.S. freezing or cutting tariffs imposed earlier in what had been an escalating trade war-like situation between the two countries.
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