Washington neared a deal to lift its ban on U.S. firms supplying Chinese telecoms gear maker ZTE Corp, sources said on Tuesday, and Beijing announced tariff cuts on car imports, further easing trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies.
The reprieve for ZTE, hit by a seven-year ban in April that had crippled its operations, could include China removing tariffs on imported U.S. agricultural products, as well as buying more American farm goods, two people briefed on the matter told Reuters.
The sources declined to be identified because the negotiations are confidential.
Representatives for the U.S. Treasury and Commerce departments did not immediately reply to a request for comment. White House representatives also did not immediately reply.
ZTE, based in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, did not immediately reply to requests for comment.
Washington and Beijing stepped back from the brink of full-blown trade war after talks last week, with the United States appearing to set aside for now its demands that China revamp key planks of its industrial policy in exchange for buying more farm products.
U.S. President Donald Trump has adopted a more conciliatory stance in the trade dispute with China as North Korea, whose chief ally is Beijing, has called into question a summit planned for next month in Singapore with Trump.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-china-zte/china-u-s-near-deal-on-zte-reprieve-beijing-cuts-auto-tariffs-idUSKCN1IN0B1