President Donald Trump drew major heat for announcing, months ago, that he would boost tariffs on goods coming into the United States from China in an effort to re-balance what he considered an economically fatal trade deficit.
But after months of negotiations, it seems the president’s commitment to the “art of the deal” has changed our relationship with China without many major changes on the part of the U.S., and though nothing is yet official, China says it will buy more American products to “even out” our trade partnership.
According to CNN, China has pledged to “significantly increase” “purchase of goods and services” from American companies in order to “reduce the trade imbalance.” The news comes at the tail end of weeks of trade talks between American and Chinese officials that both parties have called “productive.”
“To meet the growing consumption needs of the Chinese people and the need for high-quality economic development, China will significantly increase purchases of United States goods and services,” the Chinese government said in a statement. “This will help support growth and employment in the United States.”
Shockingly, the deal also reportedly contains a commitment by the Chinese to respect American intellectual property — including patent — laws, meaning Chinese knockoff luxury goods may be harder to find.
In return, the United States appears ready to honor President Trump’s commitment to help out struggling Chinese phone company ZTE and tone down the trade war rhetoric. Our relationship with China has been steadily improving, and China seems ready to commit to being a trade ally. That’s not to say trade deficits are necessarily bad — but Trump pledged to get a better deal, and it seems Americans were right to trust his commitment.