A number of US-China trade deals were announced this week. Another announcement was that the US does not blame China for the trade surplus the country has with the US. This is despite President Trump complaining continually about the unfair trade relationship between the US and China.
Will This Change Thursday?
Is this simply because of Trump currently visiting Asia, and China in particular? Will this all change again after his meeting with China’s president Xi Jinping on Thursday? The talks with the Xi Jinping appeared to go very well, although one never knows with Donald Trump. Good today, bad tomorrow!
US-China Trade Deals
There were several US-China deals announced this week:
- Deals between Chinese phone manufacturers OPPO, Vivo and Xiamio and US Qualcomm were announced. These deals involve a potential total investment of $12 billion.
- Development of liquefied natural gas in Alaska involving up to $43 billion. This development involves Alaska Gasline Development Corp, the State of Alaska, Sinopec, China Investment Corp and the Bank of China.
- An agreement between China Aviation Suppliers Holding Company and Boeing worth $37 billion for 300 new airplanes.
- Non-binding deals worth $5 billion for soybeans between the US and Chinese soybean importers.
Not all of these deals are binding, and it remains to be seen whether or not they will go ahead.
US Trade Deficit With China Last year
Last year, The US had a large trade deficit with China. Even though the trade relationship US and China was worth $648 billion in 2016, that trade favored China. The US had a huge trade deficit of $310 billion with China last year.
That is a tough nut to swallow, and the US is unlikely to continue with this. That said, Trump still stated that this was not the fault of China, but of previous US administrations prior to his own. Nevertheless, it does appear to be a favorable deal for both countries. US-China trade deals announces will certainly serve both countries well
