G20 SUMMIT

Trump and Xi agree to restart US-China trade talks

In Summary

• Trump said the talks had been "excellent".

Chinese President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Donald Trump.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Donald Trump.
Image: FILE

The United States and China have agreed to resume trade negotiations, easing a protracted row that has fuelled a global economic slowdown.

US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping reached the agreement on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Japan.

Trump said the talks had been "excellent".

He had threatened to impose an additional $300 billion (Sh30 trillion) in tariffs on Chinese imports.

However after the meeting in Osaka, he confirmed that Washington would not be adding the additional tariffs, and that he would continue to negotiate with Beijing "for the time being".

The US president also announced that American companies could continue to sell to the Chinese technology firm Huawei, which Washington has banned because of security concerns.

This move appears to be a big concession to Beijing, says the BBC's Rupert Wingfield-Hayes, in Osaka.

How has the US-China trade dispute escalated?

US and China - the world's two largest economies - have been fighting a damaging trade war over the past year.

Mr Trump accused China of stealing intellectual property and forcing US firms to share trade secrets in order to do business in China.

 

China, in turn, said the US's demands for business reform were unreasonable.

The feud escalated in the months leading up to the summit, after talks between the two countries collapsed in May.

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