China and the US hope to reach an agreement on tariff reductions soon, Beijing said on Thursday, raising expectations that progress could be announced when Donald Trump and Xi Jinping meet later this month.
Chinese Commerce Ministry spokesperson Huang Ling said negotiators were working towards reciprocal cuts on about $30 billion (£23 billion) worth of goods from each country “at an early date”.
The proposed reductions are understood to focus on non-sensitive products and form part of plans for a new US-China Board of Trade. The board would oversee economic and commercial relations between the world’s two largest economies.
China’s official Xinhua news agency said the $30 billion figure applied to goods from each side. The two governments agreed in principle in May to discuss tariff reductions on products of equivalent value.
Trump and Xi are expected to hold their third face-to-face meeting in a year in Washington on September 24. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said on Thursday that leader-level diplomacy had an important strategic role in guiding relations between the countries.
The discussions come as the latest US-China tariff truce is due to expire on November 10. While the prospect of targeted reductions has increased, analysts have cautioned that a broad trade agreement remains difficult and that any deal is more likely to cover selected goods than the full range of bilateral commerce.
