China hails 'substantial progress' in trade talks with US

BEIJING: China hailed on Monday “substantial progress” with the United States after talks in Geneva on dialing down their trade war yielded dramatic cuts to import tariffs.

US President Donald Trump had imposed duties of 145 percent on imports from China last month as part of a global tariff blitz, while Beijing hit Washington with retaliatory duties of 125 percent.

As well as the blanket levies, China has also been hit with sector-specific tariffs on steel, aluminium and car imports.

Trump has frozen until July “reciprocal” tariffs on a slew of other countries but kept them in place for China.

The two sides said in a joint statement on Monday that they had agreed to slash those levies, with Washington saying US tariffs would fall to 30 percent and Chinese tolls to 10 percent.

Shortly after the announcement, Beijing’s commerce ministry said, “the high-level trade talks between China and the United States have made substantial progress and greatly reduced the level of bilateral tariffs”.

“This move is in line with the expectations of producers and consumers in both countries, and in the interest of the two countries and the common interest of the world,” a ministry spokesperson said.

“It is hoped that the US side will take these talks as a foundation to keep working with China and completely correct the wrong practice of unilateral tariff rises… and jointly inject more certainty and stability into the world economy,” it said.

The trade dispute between the world’s two biggest economies has roiled financial markets and stoked fears that the tariffs could spark a global economic downturn.

“The two sides will conduct rolling consultations on a regular or ad hoc basis in China, the US or agreed third countries,” Beijing’s commerce ministry said.

The two economic giants may also conduct working-level trade talks “as needed”, it added.