China has reportedly offered to buy agricultural and energy products worth $70 billion approximately from the United States as long as the Trump administration is not moving forward to impose tariffs against the country.
This offer popped up during a meeting in Beijing held this weekend between Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and the Chinese economic adviser Liu He. The offer revolved all around a package that included that the Chinese companies would buy more of US farm and energy products such as soybeans, corn, natural gas, crude oil, coal and manufactured goods. The estimated value of the package, in this matter, was around $70 billion in the first year as stated previously.
China’s state-backed newspaper Xinhua said that China is willing to increase imports from other countries, including the United States. However, the country has also stated that it would not buy any more American goods if tariffs are imposed against it.
On the other hand, President Donald Trump has urged China to obligate to reduce the $375 billion US merchandise trade deficit with China by $200 billion. The US-China talks focused on bringing down the United States’ trade deficit with China “by facilitating the supply of agricultural and energy products to meet China’s growing consumption needs,” the White House said in a statement on Monday.
Chinese officials are disapproving and arguing this could go a long way toward meeting that target. As of now, US is planning to outline additional tariffs on Chinese products by mid-June and then announce new restrictions on Chinese investment in the US by June 30. The American officials have given no indication so far that they intend to halt the tariffs.