China Says Trade Deals Reached During Trump Visit Are Only “Preliminary”
China’s commerce ministry on Saturday described as “preliminary” the tariff, agricultural and aircraft deals agreed during this week’s visit by U.S. President Donald Trump.
Trump left Beijing on Friday after two days of talks with President Xi Jinping that featured pageantry and warm rhetoric but limited detail on concrete outcomes across trade and investment.
In a statement on its website, the ministry said the two sides had agreed to establish an investment board and a trade board to negotiate reciprocal, product-specific tariff reductions, as well as broader cuts on unspecified goods including agricultural products.
Also on agriculture, Beijing said both sides would work to resolve non-tariff barriers and market access issues.
Saturday’s statement marked China’s first public characterisation of the outcomes of trade talks held this week in Beijing and Seoul, and comes amid questions over what Trump’s first state visit to China in nearly a decade has delivered.
Trump has said China agreed to buy 200 Boeing BA.N aircraft, but analysts have questioned the lack of a timeline.
The commerce ministry confirmed arrangements on “Chinese purchases of U.S. aircraft and U.S. assurances on the supply of aircraft engines and parts to China”, adding that the details were continuing and the agreements would be “finalised as soon as possible”.
