US to seek public comment on Chinese goods eligible for tariff cuts

WASHINGTON - US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said on Tuesday (May 26) the government will seek public comment on which Chinese goods should be eligible for lower tariffs.

Washington and Beijing have agreed to a joint "Board of Trade" to initially determine about US$30 billion (S$38 billion) of non-strategic goods on which the two countries can lower or eliminate tariffs.

Greer said a public notice will be issued soon.

Asked at a forum on what the US got out of President Donald Trump's summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing beyond sales of 200 Boeing airplanes and US$17 billion in agriculture purchases, Greer said: "I get to keep tariffs on China, which is pretty awesome."

He added that US tariffs on Chinese goods will likely always be higher than for other countries.

Greer said the US has "come to terms with the fact that there's not going to be some giant comprehensive reform of the way the Chinese political system works, including all these economic elements of it, but we can have some managed trade."

The purchase commitment would take Chinese imports of US agriculture back towards all-time highs, ⁠but fulfilling it would likely require Beijing to drop its tariffs imposed during ​the trade war.

Greer said some people before the China summit suggested Trump was going to make drastic concessions, which he said did not happen.

"We continued our plan of strategic stability. We continued to have our tariffs. We continued to try to have a little bit of a managed trade approach," Greer said. "We continue to receive rare earths."

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