In a joint statement, they announced China has agreed to "significantly increase" purchases of US goods and services, in order to reduce the trade imbalance between the two countries.
The statement read:
"To meet the growing consumption needs of the Chinese people and the need for high-quality economic development, China will significantly increase purchases of United States goods and services. This will help support growth and employment in the United States."Speculations US officials claim that Beijing had proposed boosting Chinese purchases of American goods by around $200 billion but claims of such offer was swiftly denied at a regular news briefing in Beijing by Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer criticized the joint announcement for seeming to keep lighter penalties for ZTE on the table.
Schumer said:
"If the administration capitulates on ZTE and allows it to continue to exist, even if they are fined — they've been fined once already — that will signal to President Xi that we are weak negotiators."Scott Kennedy, an expert on the Chinese economy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the joint press release is "too vague to be binding on its own."
"It commits neither side to any specific action, either to expand trade and investment, constrain industrial policy or not adopt penalties," he said.According to Kennedy, did US decide to drop its tariffs linked to the intellectual property investigation.
"If yes, China got a huge win," he said. "If not, we at most have a temporary respite in hostilities."It remains to be seen how big a step the agreement represents. The announcement did not put a dollar amount on the commitment from China.
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