U.S. and China reach 'consensus' on reducing trade gap
  • 6 years ago
And this all comes after two rounds of trade talks between China and Washington this month.
So how will this agreement help to avert a potential *global trade war?

Well, remember Trump Administration's steel and aluminum tariffs announced in March?
The deadline for the imposition of tariffs is just around the corner...as early as next week.
If implemented, it could have triggered a full-blown trade war.
Leading up to the talks, President Trump had threatened to impose tariffs on up to 150 billion U.S. dollars in Chinese imports to punish Beijing for violating U.S. intellectual property and for its unfair trade practices.
China hit back, vowing to retaliate with tariffs of 25 percent on over a hundred U.S. goods from soybeans to airplanes.
This whole tit-for-tat weighed on global financial markets, with the IMF warning that a global trade war would undermine the broadest global upswing in years.
Of course, it was also considered a downside risk to South Korea's export-oriented economy, according to the Bank of Korea.
So the fact that a trade war has been averted is good news, especially after the first trade talks held in Beijing earlier this month only ended in differences, and alleged reports of disagreements among the U.S. trade representatives.
Plus, peaceful relations with China could give President Trump a smooth run-up to his summit talks with North Korea slated for June.
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