Monitoring desk
\nHong Kong
\nChina has offered to buy $70 billion in US goods if Washington will drop plans to impose tariffs in return, an official in President Donald Trump\u2019s administration told media on Wednesday, confirming an earlier report.
\nTop Chinese economic advisor Liu He made the offer during weekend trade talks in Beijing with a US delegation led by Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.
\nThe new purchases would include soybeans, natural gas, crude oil and coal.
\nThe Commerce Department on Wednesday told Media no definitive agreement had been reached and no further information was available.
\nUS goods exports to China last year were $130.4 billion, according to the Department. A $70 billion package of purchases would amount to a 53.8 percent increase.
\nFor goods alone, the US trade deficit with China hit a record $375 billion last year, and the White House has demanded that China cut the imbalance by $200 billion.
\n\u201cIf the United States introduces trade sanctions including tariffs, all the economic and trade achievements negotiated by the two parties will be void,\u201d China\u2019s official news agency Xinhua said Sunday.
\nAccording to The Journal, Liu personally explained to Ross the offer would be void in the event Washington imposed additional tariffs.
\nTrump had announced last week that the US was pressing ahead with plans to impose 25 percent tariffs on $50 billion in Chinese imports tied to tech industries which Washington says have benefitted from the alleged theft of US know-how and intellectual property.
\nWashington\u2019s trade battles with China, Europe, Mexico and others are an effort to make those countries buy more US goods and force down the US trade deficit, which Trump sees as a job killer and threat to the American industrial base.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Monitoring desk Hong Kong China has offered to buy $70 billion in US goods if Washington will drop plans to impose tariffs in return, an official in President Donald Trump\u2019s administration told media on Wednesday, confirming an earlier report. Top Chinese economic advisor Liu He made the offer during weekend trade talks in Beijing with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-27253","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n