Moscow, Jun 2 (Sputnik): US Secretary of the Treasury Janet L Yellen held virtual talks with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He to discuss economic recovery and cooperation, the US Treasury said in a statement.
“Secretary Yellen discussed the Biden-Harris administration’s plans to support a continued strong economic recovery and the importance of cooperating on areas that are in US interests, while at the same time frankly tackling issues of concern,” the Treasury said.
After months of negotiations, the US and China signed last year the first part of a trade agreement under which Washington retained tariffs of 25% on Chinese goods worth around $250 billion, as well as 7.5% on goods worth $120 billion.
The agreement states that China will purchase US industrial goods worth $75 billion as well as energy resources worth $50 billion, and agricultural products worth $40 billion. China will also have to spend an extra $35-40 billion in the next two years on services. Therefore, the US hopes to bring the imbalance in trade with China, which totalled hundreds of billions of dollars, to a “fair” amount.
According to Chinese customs, the trade between the US and China, despite the overdue trade war and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, grew by 8.3% in 2020 to $586 billion. In the first quarter of 2021, trade between the two countries increased by 73.1% compared to the same period last year and amounted to $165.72 billion.
