Trump ,Xi Agree to a Cease-fire on Trade

President Trump and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, agreed to a cease-fire on trade after meeting for more than two hours Saturday after the close of the Group of 20 summit in the Argentine capital.

Under the agreement, Trump won’t raise tariffs while negotiations continueand China will purchase more U.S. agricultural and energy products, the White House said in a statement issued three hours after the meeting ended.“This was an amazing and productive meeting with unlimited possibilities for both the United States and China,”

Trump said in a statement that marked a major de-escalation of rhetoric toward China. “It is my great honor to be working with President Xi.”

The tenuous truce between the two leaders means that Trump is essentially backing off his threat to raise U.S. tariffs on $200 billion worth of goods from 10% to 25% on Jan. 1 — for now.

“President Trump and President Xi have agreed to immediately begin negotiations on structural changes with respect to forced technology transfer, intellectual property protection, non-tariff barriers, cyber intrusions and cyber theft, services and agriculture,” said the statement from Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

“Both parties agree that they will endeavor to have this transaction completed within the next 90 days. If at the end of this period of time, the parties are unable to reach an agreement, the 10% tariffs will be raised to 25%.

”The talks came a day after Trump and his Mexican and Canadian counterparts signed a revised North American Free Trade Agreement after 13 months of often acrimonious negotiations. Trump hailed the deal as a major success for his administration, but it faces skepticism in Congress, which must approve it before it can take effect.