The trade agreement between America and China .. Who are the winners? What about fears?

Mohammed Al-Minshawi-Washington

The United States and China reached a phased agreement that included the abolition of customs duties imposed during the past months as a major step towards imposing a truce between the largest economists in the world at a time when the American markets are witnessing a large purchase movement due to the coming of Christmas.

US President Donald Trump welcomed the initial agreement, tweeting on Twitter, saying, "We agreed to a very large first-stage agreement with China." The two countries.

Investors were relieved to scrap a new set of fees that had been slated to start in the middle of this month, and Wall Street shares rose immediately after the announcement of an agreement.

On Friday, the Dow Jones ended up by three points, or 0.01%, while the S&P added the same amount, while the Nasdaq rose 0.02%.

The American consumer was affected
It is expected that the American consumer will not immediately feel the positive repercussions of this agreement, as it will be signed during the next month.

The most important positive aspect of this agreement is the non-imposition of taxes on phones and computers imported from China, which are products that Americans buy twice during the holiday seasons.

Al-Jazeera Net spoke to a seller in the Marshall store in northwest Washington about news of the agreement and the truce of the trade war between the United States and China.

"All I hope is that this news will positively affect purchasing levels before Christmas and New Year holidays," said the seller, whose store is filled with thousands of manufactured and imported products from China.

And US news reports talked about the details of the agreement, and stated that Washington would cut fees by half to 15% instead of 30% on what amounts to $ 120 billion in Chinese imports, especially clothing.

And Washington imposed fees of 30% on the first of last September and had a greater impact on the American consumer, as they are products that can not be dispensed with or find an American alternative to them.

"I hope the price of the clothes will go down before I start buying Christmas gifts," Laslie Blake, a coffee shop operator in northwest Washington, told Al Jazeera Net.

Undeclared agreement
Officially, the details of the agreement have not yet been announced, but Trump tweeted that Beijing has approved many structural adjustments and massive purchases of agricultural, energy, manufactured goods and much more.

The first-stage agreement is also expected to include strengthening the protection of intellectual property rights, expanding market access and protecting the rights of foreign companies in China, issues that lie at the heart of US complaints about Beijing's economic policies.

The trade war between Washington and Beijing has been going on since Trump came to power nearly three years ago, and is manifested by the exchange of additional customs duties on hundreds of billions of dollars in goods.

Trade war and 2020 elections
According to US media reports, China will spend $ 50 billion to buy American farm products, a major demand from Trump.

And farmers in several US states, who have been affected negatively by the sanctions and retaliatory measures imposed by China, are happy to reach this agreement.

Many states that President Trump won in the 2016 elections saw extensive damage to their farmers, notably Iowa, Kansas, and Indiana.

A White House statement said that China will buy agricultural and service products worth at least 200 billion dollars over the next two years.

Since his election campaign, President Trump has not stopped accusing China of practicing unfair trade policies towards the US market and products, while China believes that Trump aims to block the Chinese political and economic rise.

Until the end of last week, Washington imposed customs taxes on $ 250 billion of Chinese products entering the American market, while the value of products that were subject to additional Chinese tariffs amounted to $ 110 billion of American products imported by China, and the two countries conducted more than ten negotiating rounds. About the trade war between them.

The effects of the trade war not only depend on China and the United States, but its effects extend to all regions of the world since it is a fierce war between the two largest economists in today's world.

In 2018, the trade volume between the two countries reached 737 billion dollars, of which 179 billion are American exports, against imports from China amounting to 558 billion dollars, i.e. a trade deficit in favor of China amounting to 378 billion.

American threats will continue in exchange for Chinese threats in the coming months.

President Trump wants to appear as a strong leader facing China before engaging in the 2020 election campaign.

But at the same time, he fears the sanctions will have a negative impact on voting groups within his supporters' group, such as farmers, businessmen, and the poor classes that depend on cheap Chinese consumer products.