The US and China are set to sign a hard-fought agreement to halt their trade war, ushering in a fragile truce and a testy period of reconciliation between the world’s two largest economies after months of confrontation that cast a cloud over global growth.
The “phase one” deal, to be formalised on Wednesday at a White House ceremony scheduled for 11.30am, is the result of a limited compromise between Washington and Beijing at a time when both countries feared the economic and financial fallout from escalating tensions.
It commits China to making $200bn in additional purchases of US goods, including farm products, and other pledges on currency and intellectual property, in exchange for a small rollback in some tariffs and an indefinite hold on further punitive measures out of Washington.