China may buy up to USD 200 billion worth of US goods to reduce massive trade deficit: report

China may buy up to USD 200 billion worth of American goods under intense pressure from the Trump administration to reduce its massive trade deficit with the US, a media report said today, amid a round of high-level trade talks between the world's two largest economies.

The US has threatened to impose 25 per cent tariffs on up to USD 150 billion in Chinese goods while China has targeted USD 50 billion in American exports.

The two countries have not yet implemented their tariff increases to reach a negotiated settlement.

A high-level Chinese delegation led by Vice Premier Liu He is currently in Washington for trade negotiations with the US. The two-day talks would continue until Friday.

Liu called on US President Donald Trump at the White House yesterday.

"Chinese negotiators are preparing to offer the administration a deal to buy up to USD 200 billion worth of American goods, which would allow Trump to claim victory in his campaign to reduce the trade deficit with China and rebalance America's trade relationship with its biggest economic rival, according to people briefed on the deliberations," The New York Times reported.

The Chinese promises would be largely illusory, economists cautioned, given the structural hurdles in China to buying more American exports and the sheer amount of goods the United States would have to produce to meet Beijing's demand, the daily reported.

But in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said the "rumours are false" and the "consultations are indeed still in progress and the talks are constructive."
Lu also said the decision to drop the sorghum probe should not be "over-interpreted."