China says it has agreed with U.S. to cancel tariffs in phases

China and the United States have agreed to cancel in phases the tariffs imposed during their months-long trade war, the Chinese Commerce Ministry said [on November 7, 2019] without specifying a timetable.

An interim U.S.-China trade deal is widely expected to include a U.S. pledge to scrap tariffs scheduled for Dec. 15 on about $156 billion US worth of Chinese imports, including cell phones, laptop computers and toys.

Tariff cancellation was an important condition for any agreement, ministry spokesperson Gao Feng said, adding that both must simultaneously cancel some tariffs on each other's goods to reach a "phase one" trade deal.

"The trade war started with tariffs, and should end with the cancellation of tariffs," Gao told a regular news briefing.

The proportion of tariffs cancelled for both sides to reach a "phase one" deal must be the same, but the number to be cancelled can be negotiated, he added, without elaborating...

This was excerpted from 7 November 2019 edition of the CBC News.