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(BUTTON) Search with google * Make a contribution * Subscribe * (BUTTON) International edition + switch to the UK edition + switch to the US edition + switch to the Australia edition * Search jobs * Dating * Holidays * Digital Archive * Discount Codes * The Guardian app * Video * Podcasts * Pictures * Newsletters * Today's paper * Inside the Guardian * The Observer * Guardian Weekly * Crosswords * Facebook * Twitter * Search jobs * Dating * Holidays * Digital Archive * Discount Codes * Business * Economics * Banking * Money * Markets * Project Syndicate * B2B (BUTTON) More Global economy This article is more than 1 month old US-China trade war: hopes of deal rise after partial easing of tariffs This article is more than 1 month old IMF says deal to alleviate trade tensions could persuade it to revise up growth forecasts Phillip Inman @phillipinman Thu 7 Nov 2019 19.15 GMT Last modified on Thu 7 Nov 2019 21.00 GMT * Share on Facebook * Share on Twitter * Share via Email Xi Jinping [ ] The two-year tariff war has pitched Donald Trump against his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping. Photograph: Xinhua/Rex/Shutterstock China has raised hopes that a deal can be reached to end its trade war with the US after agreeing with Washington to roll back some tariffs. The prospect of an agreement sent stock markets soaring to all-time highs and prompted the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to say a deal easing trade tensions between the US and China could persuade its officials to revise up forecasts for global growth next year. Chinese officials confirmed that they were thrashing out the shape of a first-stage trade deal with the US, which will force Beijing to end a moratorium on purchases of some US agricultural goods such as soya beans in exchange for Washington applying lighter tariffs on Chinese imports. A Chinese government spokesman said the economic superpowers would remove tariffs – taxes imposed on imports – in phases “as progress is made on the agreement”. China is also reportedly looking at the removal of curbs on US poultry imports. “In the past two weeks, top negotiators had serious, constructive discussions and agreed to remove the additional tariffs in phases as progress is made on the agreement,” the spokesman, Gao Feng, said. “If China, US reach a phase-one deal, both sides should roll back existing additional tariffs in the same proportion simultaneously.” Beijing is seeking to roll back tariffs on as much as $360bn (£280bn) of Chinese imports – including clothing, meat and electric appliances – before Xi Jinping agrees to go to the US to sign a partial trade deal with Donald Trump. Chinese negotiators want Trump to scrap tariffs on about $110bn of goods that were imposed in September and lower the 25% tariff rate on about $250bn of products that began last year. Stock markets jumped as investors detected a thawing in previously frosty relations between leaders of the world’s largest and second largest economies. The Dow Jones industrial average jumped almost 1% to 27,739, while the S&P 500 rose to its second all-time high of the week, of 3,095. A softening in the two-year tariff war that has pitched the US president against his Chinese counterpart also eased demand for safe haven assets, including gold. The gold price slipped by more than 1% to $1,476 an ounce on Thursday. “There are still hurdles to be overcome, but it is encouraging that, contrary to last spring, Chinese negotiators are sending more positive signals, as well as their US counterparts,” said Raoul Leering, head of international trade analysis at the investment bank ING. Investors gave credence to the prospects for an agreement, despite many false dawns in the last six months, after Beijing’s announcement was not denied by the White House. However, analysts remained wary of talk of the two sides making further progress in the coming months. Wielding the pressure of tariffs, the US is seeking to extract broader concessions that would force China to protect American companies from intellectual property theft and unfair competition. US trade representative, Robert Lighthizer, is one of several officials who have argued that the duties on the $250bn of goods are a way of making sure that China lives up to its commitments and should be in place for the long term. Leering said China’s demands for the next phase to involve further cuts to US import tariffs was likely to be a deal-breaker. “If the US considers the mini-deal as no more than a limited first step towards a phase-two deal which would resolve the more difficult issues, it will want to keep the pressure on.” IFRAME: https://www.theguardian.com/email/form/plaintone/3887 Sign up to the daily Business Today email or follow Guardian Business on Twitter at @BusinessDesk He said hardliners in the White House and in Congress believed that without sufficient tariffs in place, China’s willingness to cooperate in the next stage of negotiations on tough issues such as reducing state subsidies, “forced” technology transfers and using subsidies to conquer global technology markets could be in short supply. “Nevertheless, we do expect a phase-one deal to be struck soon, which means that things are moving in the right direction,” he said. A spokesman for the IMF said an interim trade deal that rolled back some tariffs had the potential to improve its economic forecasts for 2020. The Washington-based lender of last resort to indebted countries said its economists had already shown that the two countries’ trade war had slowed global growth significantly this year. He said: “We see it has holding potential to improve our baseline forecast. But again we need to wait for the details.” Topics * Global economy * China * Asia Pacific * Xi Jinping * Donald Trump * Trump administration * news * Share on Facebook * Share on Twitter * Share via Email * Share on LinkedIn * Share on Pinterest * Share on WhatsApp * Share on Messenger * Reuse this content more on this story * Financial markets surge after £87bn Chinese cash increase Record high on Wall Street and share rises in Europe following US-China trade deal progress Published: 2 Jan 2020 Financial markets surge after £87bn Chinese cash increase * White House expecting agreement with China 'within next week or so' Trade adviser Peter Navarro suggests little more than translation of text is needed Published: 30 Dec 2019 White House expecting agreement with China 'within next week or so' * Easing trade tensions fuel pre-Christmas shares rally Donald Trump promises that a US-China trade pact will be signed ‘very shortly’ Published: 23 Dec 2019 Easing trade tensions fuel pre-Christmas shares rally * Wall Street hits high as Trump raises hopes of US-China trade deal Expectation is Washington may scrap plans to increase tariffs on fresh range of Chinese goods Published: 12 Dec 2019 Wall Street hits high as Trump raises hopes of US-China trade deal * + Markets in tailspin amid fears US-China trade deal is in peril Published: 4 Dec 2019 Markets in tailspin amid fears US-China trade deal is in peril + Trump says China-US trade deal could wait until after 2020 election Published: 3 Dec 2019 Trump says China-US trade deal could wait until after 2020 election + Chinese manufacturing slows as trade war with US dents confidence Published: 14 Nov 2019 Chinese manufacturing slows as trade war with US dents confidence + Trump says US-China trade deal is close, but market nosedives Published: 31 Oct 2019 Trump says US-China trade deal is close, but market nosedives (BUTTON) More more on this story Most popular * Business * Economics * Banking * Money * Markets * Project Syndicate * B2B * News * Opinion * Sport * Culture * Lifestyle IFRAME: /email/form/footer/today-uk + Contact us + Complaints & corrections + SecureDrop + Work for us + Privacy policy + Cookie policy + Terms & conditions + Help + All topics + All writers + Digital newspaper archive + Facebook + Twitter + Advertise with us + Search UK jobs + Dating + Discount Codes Support The Guardian Available for everyone, funded by readers Contribute Subscribe Back to top © 2020 Guardian News & Media Limited or its affiliated companies. 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