Among the unresolved issues is whether the U.S. will follow through on plans to pressure pressure Beijing with $50 billion to $150 billion worth of tariffs on Chinese goods. | Getty Images After talks, China makes vague pledge to buy more U.S. products

China has promised to buy significantly more U.S. agriculture and energy products to help cut the U.S. trade deficit, according to a vague joint statement released Saturday by the two governments after two days of talks in Washington.

The statement did not say how much more China would buy or how soon the purchases would take place, and did not indicate whether the United States would back down from plans to impose tariffs on billions of dollars of Chinese goods or remove penalties already imposed on steel and aluminum.


"To meet the growing consumption needs of the Chinese people and the need for high-quality economic development, China will significantly increase purchases of United States goods and services," the U.S.-China joint statement said. "This will help support growth and employment in the United States. Both sides agreed on meaningful increases in United States agriculture and energy exports. The United States will send a team to China to work out the details."

The high-level talks were led by Vice Premier Liu He for the Chinese and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer for the United States.

"Both sides agreed to continue to engage at high levels on these issues and to seek to resolve their economic and trade concerns in a proactive manner," the statement said.

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U.S. officials on Friday said China had offered a plan to boost U.S. exports to China by $200 billion in coming years by reducing tariffs and other trade barriers. However, that language is not reflected in the joint statement in one sign of how much work is left to be done on the agreement.

There is also no reference to whether the Trump administration will suspend plans to impose $50 billion to $150 billion worth of tariffs on Chinese goods to pressure Beijing to stop the theft of U.S. intellectual property and forced technology transfers.

The deadline for public input on the initial $50 billion of goods that could be hit with a new 25 percent tariff ends next week, setting the stage for the administration to actually put the penalties in place.

"Both sides attach paramount importance to intellectual property protections, and agreed to strengthen cooperation. China will advance relevant amendments to its laws and regulations in this area, including the Patent Law," the statement said.

The Trump administration is also considering investment restrictions on China as part of the same intellectual property action, and the statement shed little light on whether those are still planned.

"Both sides agreed to encourage two-way investment and to strive to create a fair, level playing field for competition," the statement said.

The statement also did not mention whether the Commerce Department will ease penalties on Chinese telecommunications giant ZTE, which was accused of illegally shipping equipment to Iran and North Korea. President Donald Trump said last Sunday he wanted the department to back off on ZTE after he spoke to Chinese President Xi Jinping on the matter.

The Commerce Department in April banned ZTE from selling parts and software to U.S companies for seven years after it was caught violating the terms of a March 2017 agreement that included $1.19 billion in civil and criminal penalties and required it to reprimand employees involved in sales to Iran and North Korea.

The statement is also silent on the future of new U.S. duties on Chinese steel and aluminum products, which prompted Beijing to retaliate by imposing penalties on about $3 billion worth of U.S. food products.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer took note of the statement's vagueness.

“The key to a strong agreement is protecting our intellectual property here in America and stopping the Chinese from keeping out our best goods until we hand over our trade secrets and know how in such things as required joint ventures," he said in a statement of his own. "The joint statement has nothing specific on those fronts and no amount of immediate and short term purchases of American goods will make up for that."

“Furthermore, there is no mention of ZTE. If the administration capitulates on ZTE and allows it to continue to exist, even if they are fined — they’ve been fined once already — that will signal to President Xi that we are weak negotiators," the New York Democrat added.



CLARIFICATION: This story has been updated to reflect that ZTE faced civil and criminal penalties for selling equipment to North Korea and Iran, and that the recent Commerce Department move to ban the company from U.S. sales came after ZTE violated the terms of its penalty agreement in that case.