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Asia markets jump after US and China agree to trade truce | |
(about 3 hours later) | |
Asian markets jumped after the presidents of China and the US reached a temporary truce in their trade war. | |
At the G20 summit, Donald Trump and Xi Jinping agreed to halt new trade tariffs for 90 days to allow for talks. | At the G20 summit, Donald Trump and Xi Jinping agreed to halt new trade tariffs for 90 days to allow for talks. |
An escalating trade war between the world's two largest economies has weighed on markets generally. | An escalating trade war between the world's two largest economies has weighed on markets generally. |
The US and China have imposed tariffs on billions of dollars worth of one another's goods, posing risks to global trade and the world economy. | |
In China, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index jumped 2.7% and the Shanghai Composite index rallied 2.9%. Japan's Nikkei 225 index rose 1.4%. | |
"I do not think market consensus is looking for very significant progress, this is a temporary truce," Masamichi Adachi, senior economist at JP Morgan in Japan, said. | |
"Many people suspected that there may be a more disastrous outcome, this is definitely a relief." | "Many people suspected that there may be a more disastrous outcome, this is definitely a relief." |
The US and China have been embroiled in a trade war this year which has seen the US hit China with tariffs on $250bn (£195.9bn) worth of goods since July, and China retaliate with duties on some $110bn of US goods over the same period. | The US and China have been embroiled in a trade war this year which has seen the US hit China with tariffs on $250bn (£195.9bn) worth of goods since July, and China retaliate with duties on some $110bn of US goods over the same period. |
The US has said the tariffs are in response to China's "unfair" trade practices and accuses it of intellectual property theft. | |
Stakes were high at a meeting between President Trump and President Xi at last week's G20 summit. | |
Failure to strike a deal would have seen tariffs on $200bn worth of Chinese goods rise from 10% to 25% at the start of next year, and would have opened the way for tariffs on additional Chinese goods. | |
What has been agreed? | |
In a statement, the White House said US tariffs on Chinese goods will remain unchanged for 90 days, but added: "If at the end of this period of time, the parties are unable to reach an agreement, the 10 percent tariffs will be raised to 25 percent." | |
The US said China agreed to "purchase a not yet agreed upon, but very substantial, amount of agricultural, energy, industrial, and other products from the United States to reduce the trade imbalance between our two countries". | |
Both sides also pledged to "immediately begin negotiations on structural changes with respect to forced technology transfer, intellectual property protection, non-tariff barriers, cyber intrusions and cyber theft", according to the White House. | |
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told reporters after the talks that "the principal agreement has effectively prevented further expansion of economic friction between the two countries". | |
He hailed "new space for win-win co-operation", while Chinese state TV said negotiations would continue. | |
Are tariffs still in place? | |
Yes. The truce prevents raising tariffs as planned on $200bn worth of Chinese goods. | |
But it does not remove tariffs that apply to a total of $250bn of Chinese goods targeted since July. | |
The truce also does not affect the existing duties China has imposed on $110bn of US goods in a tit for tat retaliation. | |
Will this resolve the dispute? | |
While the result of the G20 meeting was better than expected, it is unclear how the two countries will manage to resolve the underlying differences behind the conflict. | |
"There should be no wishful thinking that the truce would end the trade war between the world's two largest economies," DBS strategist Philip Wee wrote in a research note. | |
He said it "remains to be seen if real progress could be achieved during this narrow window to resolve the contentious issues, not just on trade, but also intellectual property." | |
Louis Kuijs, head of Asia economics at Oxford Economics, said while the agreement itself was "positive" the next steps remained unclear. | |
"Whether we will see further de-escalation or whether it is temporary reprieve continues to be very much up to a political decision in Washington DC - that will continue to make this uncertain," Louis Kuijs, head of Asia economics at Oxford Economics said. |