US agrees to lower tariffs on some Chinese imports in trade deal

The United States agreed to modify its tariffs on Chinese goods in a “significant way” under a phase one trade agreement with Beijing, while China would buy substantially more U.S. goods and services, the US Trade Representative’s office said on Friday.

Under the agreement, Washington will maintain 25% tariffs on about $250 billion of Chinese imports, and reduce to around 7.5% tariffs imposed on $120 billion of other Chinese imports, USTR said in a statement.

It said the trade agreement required structural reforms to China’s economic and trade regime in areas of intellectual property, technology transfer, agriculture, financial services, currency and foreign exchange. The deal also includes a ‘strong dispute resolution system’, USTR said.