China promises prompt action on U.S. trade pact

A Chinese government spokespersonon Thursday said Beijing was "full of confidence" it will strikea trade deal with the United Stateswithin the next 90 days, praising the recentmeeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and ChinesePresident Xi Jinping as highly successful.

In Argentina last weekend, Trump and Xi agreed to a trucethat delayed a planned hike of U.S. of tariffs on $200 billion US of Chinese goods whilethey negotiate a trade deal. The hikes, which were set to come into effect on Jan. 1,would have increased existing American tariffs to 25per cent from 10 per cent.

"We are very confident in reaching an agreement (with theUnited States) within the next 90 days," China's Commerce Ministry spokespersonGao Feng said in a weekly briefing, addingboth sides have been communicating and co-operating "smoothly"since the leaders met in Argentina.

China's ultimate goal during the 90-day trade talks is toremove all U.S. tariffs imposed on Chinese goods, Gao said.

Huaweiarrest threatens new flare-up

His comments come as the arrest of a top executive ofChinese tech giant Huawei by Canadian authorities, onWashington's request, threatens to spark a flare-up in tensionsbetween the world's two economic powerhouses once again.

The two countries have hit each other with tit-for-tat tariffson goods worth hundreds of billions of dollars in sectors fromautomobiles to agriculture and energy, stymying trade andredrawing global supply chains.

Gao confirmed for the first time since the high-stakesmeeting that China had agreed to implement consensus reached byboth sides on agriculture, energy and cars, although he did notgive details on any specific measures.

"We will start with agricultural products, energy,automobiles to immediately implement the issues that the twosides have reached consensus," Gao said, when asked about whatis on the negotiation agenda.

"Then, in the next 90 days, we will follow a clear timetableand roadmap to negotiate on issues such as intellectual propertyright protection, tech cooperation, market access and tradebalance," he said, stressing the consultations should be basedon meeting the interests of both parties.

The White House has said China had committed to start buyingmore American products and lifting tariff and non-tariff barriers immediately, while beginning talks on structuralchanges with respect to forced technology transfers andintellectual property protection.

The United States has levied additional duties of between 10per cent and 25 per cent on $250 billionof Chinese goods thisyear as punishment for what it calls China's unfair tradepractices. China has responded with its own tariffs.

Consensus reached at G20

"China and United States have reached very importantconsensus as both sides' interests overlap," Gao said. Hiscomments echoed earlier remarks made by senior Chinese diplomatWang Yi, who said the meeting was "friendly and candid" andwould help to avoid further trade tensions.

"All of these help to safeguard China's legitimateinterests, and are also in the interests of the United States,and even more are in line with the expectations of theinternational community," he added in a statement carried on theforeign ministry's website.

But global markets have been nervous about the prospectofa China-U.S. trade dispute spilling over to growing rivalry
between both sides in areas such as technology, and manyeconomists have remained cautious about being too optimistic ona temporary truce.

The daughter of Huawei's founder is facing extradition tothe United States, dealing a blow to hopes of an easing ofSino-U.S. trade tensions and rocking global stock markets.

Trump also warned this week of more tariffs if the two sidescould not resolve their differences.