China Offers US Compromise Over Trade: Sources

Beijing has offered US President Donald Trump a package of proposed purchases of American goods and other measures aimed at reducing the US trade deficit with China by some US$200 billion a year, US officials familiar with the proposal said.

The offer came during the first of two days of US-China trade talks in Washington aimed at resolving tariff threats between the world’s two largest economies, but it was not immediately clear how the total value was determined.

One of the sources said US aircraft maker Boeing Co would be a major beneficiary of the Chinese offer if Trump were to accept it. Boeing is the largest US exporter and already sells about a quarter of its commercial aircraft to Chinese customers.

Another person familiar with the talks said the package may include some elimination of Chinese tariffs already in place on about US$4 billion worth of US farm products including fruit, nuts, pork, wine and sorghum.

The top-line number would match a request presented to Chinese officials two weeks ago by the Trump administration. But getting to a US$200 billion reduction of the US China trade deficit on a sustainable basis would require a massive change in the composition of US-China trade, as the US goods deficit was US$375 billion last year.

The United States’ two biggest exports to China were aircraft at US$16 billion last year, and soybeans, at US$12 billion.

Trump met with the leader of the Chinese delegation, Vice Premier Liu He on Thursday, but the White House did not make any statement following the meeting. (Reuters)