Commerce ministry says China will ‘implement consensus’ on farm products, cars and energy

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

China has said it will immediately implement measures agreed under a trade war “truce” with the US.

The commerce ministry’s remarks came days after Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, agreed to give negotiators 90 days to resolve their trade spat.

Few details have been made public about what the two sides will negotiate, a lack of clarity that has unsettled stock markets.

“China will immediately implement the consensus both sides already reached on agricultural products, energy, autos and other specific items,” a commerce ministry spokesman, Gao Feng, said at a regular press briefing.

The two sides would also discuss intellectual property protection, technology cooperation, market access and fair trade, and “work hard to reach a consensus”, Gao said.

But the spokesman did not provide more specific details about what actions China would take.

The White House has said China agreed to purchase a “very substantial” amount of agricultural, energy, industrial and other products to reduce the trade gap. It would also begin buying products from US farmers “immediately”, the US said.

The two sides will negotiate structural changes to forced technology transfer, intellectual property protection, cyber-intrusions and cybertheft, services and agriculture, according to the White House.

China has said it will import more US products to reduce its trade surplus, but no dollar amount has been publicly discussed.

Trump previously said China would roll back tariffs of 40% on cars. It was unclear whether Gao was referring to the tariffs in his remarks to reporters.

Gao’s briefing came hours after the trade detente risked being rattled by the arrest in Canada of a top executive from the Chinese telecom giant Huawei at the request of the US.