What Is The Phase One Trade Agreement

This first trade agreement is seen as the first sign of de-escalation in the long trade war between the United States and China. For more than 18 months, the world`s two largest economies have been fighting crises, followed by back-and-forth negotiations week after week – not to mention a customs war, the introduction of foreign technological restrictions and WTO business. The 96-day agreement includes eight chapters on intellectual property rights, technology transfer, food and agricultural products, financial services, foreign exchange regulation, trade expansion, dispute resolution and final provisions. It addresses the main themes of the USTR`s 2017 section 301 investigation into China. Below is a reading of the main provisions of the agreement. We are taking an important step – which has never been done before with China – toward a future of fair and reciprocal trade, as we sign the first phase of the historic U.S.-China trade agreement. Together, we are correcting the injustices of the past and creating a future of economic justice and security for American workers, farmers and families. The agreement is subject to any violation of monetary commitments in relation to the mechanism for implementing the agreement, which would allow them to obtain U.S. tariffs. A senior Trump administration official said the currency agreement was based on provisions of the U.S.-Mexico trade agreement, which require the three countries to disclose monthly data on international reserve balances and foreign exchange market interventions, as well as quarterly balance-of-payments and other government reports to the International Monetary Fund.

The agreement prohibits the United States and China from manipulating exchange rates or interest rates in order to devalue their currencies. China has also agreed to disclose its foreign exchange reserves and quarterly imports of goods and services. Last year, the Trump administration called China a currency manipulator and argued that China had deliberately repressed the value of its currency to give its exports a competitive advantage; this label was discontinued shortly before the signing of the Phase 1 trade agreement. WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States and China have agreed on the terms of a “Phase One” trade agreement that lowers some U.S. tariffs on Chinese products, while boosting Chinese purchases of U.S. agricultural, energy and industrial products that challenges some Americans.