BEIJING: The 90-day tariff truce agreed by the United States and China during trade talks in Switzerland last weekend is too short, China’s state-backed Global Times said on Friday (May 16), as envoys from the world’s two biggest economies regrouped in Korea.
During the Geneva summit, the US agreed to cut the extra tariffs it imposed on Chinese imports last month to 30 per cent from 145 per cent for the next three months, while China committed to cutting duties on US imports to 10 per cent from 125 per cent.
“The window for mutually beneficial cooperation should extend far beyond a mere 90-day period,” said the Global Times, which is owned by the newspaper of the ruling Communist Party, People’s Daily, and has often been first to report China’s next steps in trade disagreements over the last few years.
“Hopefully, the US side will build on the outcomes of the recent talks and continue to meet China halfway.”
Beijing also agreed to pause or remove the non-tariff countermeasures it has imposed against the US since Apr 2, although China so far has only paused its decision to add around 50 US firms to various lists restricting their ability to trade and invest.
In addition to easing the curbs, China agreed to lift export countermeasures issued after Apr 2, raising prospects for the lifting of restrictions on rare earth minerals, which Beijing has not yet clarified its position on.
