Trade agreement in sight between the United States and China

A partial trade agreement between the United States and China appeared to emerge on the evening of Thursday, December 12, after 19 months of a fierce trade war between the two world's leading economies.

According to several media, Washington would agree to reduce some customs duties on Chinese products and postpone the increase in customs duties scheduled for December 15. Beijing would agree to buy $ 50 billion worth of US agricultural products in 2020.

The New York Stock Exchange ended up higher and took the Nasdaq and S & P 500 indexes to new highs, with investors betting on the imminent formalization of an agreement.

An agreement that falls

"We are VERY close to a GREAT AGREEMENT with China," tweeted in mid-morning the tenant of the White House. "They want it, and we want it too!" Added DonaldTrump, who has been sending contradictory signals on the issue for several weeks.

Getting VERY close to a BIG DEAL with China. They want it, and so do we!

The US president has met with his key advisers on this thorny issue but the White House has remained silent on a possible breakthrough in the discussions. Beijing assured Thursday that the negotiators of the two countries maintained "close communication", without further details.

The possible announcement of a "deal" with Beijing would fall for the Republican billionaire targeted by an impeachment procedure that should accelerate with his indictment next week.

Chinese growth threatened

For almost two years, the two countries have been playing a tug of war, resulting in the mutual imposition of additional tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars in annual trade.

This trade war, which is already penalizing export-oriented Chinese firms, is now threatening the growth of the Asian giant. It fell to 6% year-on-year in the third quarter, its lowest level in 27 years.

With AFP and Reuters

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