U.S. announces trade progress with China in 10 key areas

WASHINGTON – Declaring the U.S. relationship with China is hitting a new high, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross announced Thursday an agreement between the two countries on 10 trade issues.

Ross said the deal is the start of new communication and coordination with the Chinese. “This is more than has been done in the whole history of U.S.-China relations on trade,” he said.

While Ross called it a "herculean" accomplishment to find agreement between the countries in the initial 10 areas, he promised more deals would be coming.  “There are probably 500 items that you could potentially discuss, maybe more than 500,” he said.

The agreement was striking especially given Trump's previous hard-line stance toward China. During last year’s presidential campaign, President Trump bashed China as a currency manipulator.

But he’s since reversed that position, suggesting it was part of a strategic plan to convince China to work with the U.S. to confront North Korea’s missile buildup. Yet Ross told reporters the North Korean situation was not mentioned during the trade negotiations. “It was not a quid pro quo,” he said.

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He estimated the agreements would result in an improvement in the U.S. trade deficit with China by the end of the year.

Here are the initial areas of agreement.

• Beef: China will allow U.S. beef exports no later than July 16.
• Cooked poultry: The U.S. will begin the rule-making process to allow imports of cooked poultry from China.
• Biotechnology: China will evaluate U.S. biotechnology products with pending applications and either approve them, or be transparent about why the products don’t pass a safety test.
• Natural gas: The Chinese can negotiate all types of contracts, including long-term, for natural gas exports.
• Credit rating services: China will allow foreign-owned financial service firms to provide credit rating services.
• Cross-border clearing: China’s central bank and the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission will work toward an agreement on the oversight of cross-border clearing organizations.
• Electronic payment services: China will takes steps that lead to market access for U.S.-owned suppliers of electronic payment services.
• Banking: The U.S. remains committed to treating Chinese banks the same as other foreign banks.
• Settlement licenses: China will issue bond underwriting and settlement licenses to two qualified U.S. financial institutions.
• Business investment summit: The U.S. will send delegates to a summit for a Chinese initiative to expand links between Asia, Africa and Europe, and will welcome Chinese participation in a U.S. business investment summit in June.