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Factbox: Global economic policy response to the coronavirus pandemic

LONDON (Reuters) – Governments and central banks around the world have unleashed unprecedented amounts of fiscal and monetary stimulus and other support over the past month for national economies reeling from the coronavirus pandemic.

Following is a summary of the main policy steps so far.

UNITED STATES

MONETARY STIMULUS – The Federal Reserve cut interest rates by 150 basis points total in two emergency meetings on March 3 (50 basis points) and March 15 (100 bps), taking the federal funds rate to 0-0.25%, along with $700 billion in asset purchases, or quantitative easing (QE).

It also cut the discount window rate by 150 basis points. The Fed followed on March 23 with unlimited and open-ended QE, planned purchases of corporate, municipal government bonds.

LIQUIDITY OPERATIONS AND FUNDING – Trillions of dollars in repurchase agreements flooding the markets with cash; swap lines with other major central banks to provide dollar funding; program to support money market funds; various easing of bank capital buffers; funding backstop for businesses to provide bridging loans of up to four years; funding to help credit flow in asset-backed securities markets; also plans to extend credit to small- and medium-sized businesses.

FISCAL STIMULUS (FEDERAL) – U.S. Senate passed a $2 trillion stimulus package on March 25 including a $500 billion fund to help hard-hit industries and a comparable amount for direct payments of up to $3,000 apiece to millions of U.S. families. The U.S. House of Representatives will vote on Friday.

EURO ZONE

MONETARY STIMULUS – The European Central Bank on March 12 added 120 billion euros to its existing asset-purchase program of 20 billion a month, more quantitative easing (QE). On March 19, the ECB added another 750 billion euros in QE, taking the total to about 1.1 trillion euros this year, and added Greece to the portfolio of bonds it would purchase. On March 26, it eliminated a cap on how many bonds it can buy from any single euro zone country.

LIQUIDITY OPERATIONS AND FUNDING – The ECB cut the interest rate on its Targeted Long-Term Refinancing Operations (TLTROs), cheap loans to banks by 25 basis points to -0.75% on March 12. It provided additional LTROs to bridge bank funding through to June and relaxed capital rules.

FISCAL/OTHER: Suspension of limits on EU government borrowing; considering allowing a precautionary credit line worth 2% of national GDP from the ESM bailout fund.

GERMANY

FISCAL STIMULUS – Agreed a package worth up to 750 billion euros on March 23; 100 billion euros for an economic stability fund that can take direct equity stakes in companies; 100 billion euros in credit to public-sector development bank KfW for loans to struggling businesses; stability fund will offer 400 billion euros in loan guarantees to secure corporate debt at risk of defaulting.

FRANCE

FISCAL STIMULUS – 45 billion euros of crisis measures on March 17 in to the economy to help companies and workers; guaranteeing up to 300 billion euros of corporate borrowing from commercial banks on March 16.

ITALY

FISCAL STIMULUS – Emergency decree worth 25 billion euros on March 16 which suspends loan and mortgage repayments for companies and families and increases funds to help firms pay workers temporarily laid off.

SPAIN

FISCAL STIMULUS – A 200 billion-euro package announced on March 17; half of the economic assistance measures are state-backed credit guarantees for companies and the rest include loans and aid for vulnerable people.

UNITED KINGDOM

MONETARY STIMULUS – The Bank of England cut interest rates by a total of 65 basis points in two emergency meetings on March 11 (50 bps) and March 19 (15 bps); taking Bank Rate to a record low of 0.10%; announces 200 billion pounds of bond purchases.

LIQUIDITY OPERATIONS AND FUNDING – The BoE also introduced a new program for cheap credit and reduced a capital buffer to help banks lend. A BoE corporate financing facility will buy commercial paper with a maturity of up to 12 months from businesses that had an investment-grade credit rating or similar pre-crisis.

FISCAL STIMULUS – A 30 billion-pound stimulus plan on March 11; 330 billion pounds in loan guarantees to businesses; offered to pay 80% of wage bills if staff put on leave up to a maximum of 2,500 pounds ($2,930) a month each – if firms kept them on. Businesses also allowed to temporarily hold on to 30 billion pounds ($35 billion) of value-added tax (VAT).

CANADA

MONETARY STIMULUS – The Bank of Canada cut rates by 100 basis points in two emergency meetings on March 4 (50 bps) and March 13 (50 bps), taking the overnight interest rate to 0.75%.

LIQUIDITY OPERATIONS AND FUNDING – eligible collateral for term repo operations expanded; C$50 billion ($34.6 billion) insured mortgage purchase program; C$10 billion credit support program for businesses.

FISCAL STIMULUS – C$55 billion in tax deferrals for businesses and families; C$27 billion aid package for workers and low-income households.

JAPAN

MONETARY POLICY – The Bank of Japan eased monetary policy by ramping up purchases of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and other risky assets, including corporate bonds. The central bank also decided to create a new loan program to extend one-year, zero-rate loans to financial institutions.

FISCAL STIMULUS – The government announced 430.8 billion yen ($4.1 billion) of extra spending, much aimed at supporting affected small and medium-sized businesses. The government will also fund upgrades to medical facilities, and subsidize working parents forced to go on leave because of closed schools.

No fiscal stimulus plans have been announced, but something is expected in April, which may include cash payouts. They could be worth more than 30 trillion yen ($270 billion).

AUSTRALIA

MONETARY STIMULUS – The Reserve Bank of Australia cut rates by a total of 50 basis points in two decisions (25 bps at the March 3 meeting and another 25 bps at a March 19 emergency meeting), taking the cash rate to 0.25%; introduces first use of quantitative easing, setting a target of around 0.25% for bond yields.

LIQUIDITY OPERATIONS AND FUNDING – A$90 billion ($53.3 billion) funding facility to banks at fixed rate of 0.25%; A$15 billion purchase program of residential mortgage-backed and other asset-backed securities; A$715 million support program for airlines.

FISCAL STIMULUS – A$66.1 billion in assistance for companies and additional welfare payments; A$17.6 billion package in subsidies for apprentices, small businesses, pensioners and others.

SOUTH KOREA

MONETARY STIMULUS – Bank of Korea cut interest rates by 50 basis points to 0.75% on March 16.

FISCAL STIMULUS – Supplementary budget of 11.7 trillion won; 50 trillion won in emergency financing for small businesses; further loosened key capital flow rules temporarily to encourage local financial institutions to supply more dollars.

CHINA

MONETARY STIMULUS – People’s Bank of China cut its one-year Loan Prime Rate, first introduced in August, by 10 basis points to 4.05% on Feb 20, following various liquidity injections and other mild policy easing. The PBOC cut the cash banks must hold as reserves for the second time this year on March 13, releasing 550 billion yuan ($79 billion).

LIQUIDITY AND FUNDING – China offered easier funding for small- and medium-sized businesses, increasing yuan re-lending and re-discount quotas by 500 billion yuan on Feb 25. Also increased policy banks’ loan quota by 350 billion yuan to make loans targeting these businesses.

FISCAL STIMULUS – China is set to unleash trillions of yuan of fiscal stimulus. The ramped-up spending will aim to spur infrastructure investment, backed by as much as 2.8 trillion yuan ($394 billion) of local government special bonds, according to sources on March 19. The national budget deficit ratio could rise to record levels, sources added.

Various small measures and fiscal expenditure such as tax breaks, reduced power charges and fee reductions.

BRAZIL

MONETARY STIMULUS – Central Bank of Brazil cut interest rates by 50 basis points to 3.75% and eased capital requirements for financial institutions.

LIQUIDITY OPERATIONS AND FUNDING – 1.2 trillion reais ($233.8 billion) central bank program to inject liquidity through purchases of bank loan portfolio packages; new rules allowing banks to offer firms and households increased loans and better terms; central bank intervention in FX markets and repurchases of dollar-denominated sovereign bonds.

FISCAL STIMULUS – 150 billion reais budget boost to support most vulnerable population and jobs; presidential decree declaring national emergency over the coronavirus passed in Congress, allowing the government to waive fiscal targets and free up budget resources. [nL1N

INDIA

FISCAL STIMULUS – The Federal government announced on March 26 a 1.7 trillion rupee ($22.6-billion) economic stimulus plan providing direct cash transfers and food security measures.

SOUTH AFRICA

MONETARY STIMULUS – The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) cut its main lending rate by 100 basis points to 5.25% on March 19.

LIQUIDITY OPERATIONS AND FUNDING – The SARB announced on March 25 a program to buy bonds of varying maturities on the secondary market, but it did not give further details.

(Compiled by Reuters Polls)

Coronavirus wreaks financial havoc as infections near 100,000

By Lawrence White and Dan Whitcomb

LONDON/LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Business districts around the world began to empty and stock markets tumbled on Friday as the number of coronavirus infections neared 100,000 and the economic damage wrought by the outbreak intensified.

An increasing number of people faced a new reality as many were asked to stay home from work, schools were closed, large gatherings and events were cancelled, stores cleared of staples like toiletries and water, and face masks became a common sight.

In London, Europe’s financial capital, the Canary Wharf district was unusually quiet. S&P Global’s large office stood empty after the company sent its 1,200 staff home, while HSBC asked around 100 people to work from home after a worker tested positive for the illness.

In New York, JPMorgan divided its team between central locations and a secondary site in New Jersey while Goldman Sachs  sent some traders to nearby secondary offices in Greenwich, Connecticut and Jersey City.

The outbreak, which has killed more than 3,300 people globally, has radiated across the United States, surfacing in at least four new states plus San Francisco.

More than 2,000 people were stranded on the Grand Princess cruise ship after it was barred from returning to port in San Francisco because at least 35 people aboard developed flu-like symptoms. Test kits were delivered at sea to the vessel.

Moves by some major economies including the United States to cut interest rates and pledge billions of dollars to fight the epidemic have done little to allay fears about the spread of the virus and the economic fallout with supply chains crippled around the world, especially in China.

“There’s concern that while there has been a response from the Fed, given the nature of the problem, is this something the central bank can really help with?” said John Davies, G10 rates strategist at Standard Chartered Bank in London.

SINKING MARKETS

European stocks continued their slide after the Japanese market dropped to a six-month low, with 97% of shares on the Tokyo exchange’s main board in the red.

Airline and travel stocks have been among the worst affected as people cancelled non-essential travel. Norwegian Air Shuttle <NWC.OL>, the hardest-hit stock among European carriers, has fallen almost 70% since the start of February.

U.S. stock index futures dropped sharply over fears about the epidemic, which has prompted a sharp cut to global economic growth forecasts for 2020. The benchmark S&P 500 looked set to close out the week more than 10% below its record-high close on Feb. 19.

“If this really ramps up, we could see a lot more kitchen-sinking updates from the travel industry and airlines,” said Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG. “What’s impressive about the current move is it probably understates the degree of disruption we could be facing across the U.S. and Europe.”

Yields on long-dated U.S. Treasury bonds fell to record lows, while gold was on course for its biggest weekly gain since 2011 as investors fled to assets seen as safe havens.

In Europe, British 10-year gilt yields also dropped to a record low, while German Bund yields fell to within striking distance of record lows.

Yields fall as prices rise.

CABIN CREW MEMBER INFECTED

More than 98,000 people have been infected in over 85 countries, according to a Reuters tally. Mainland China, where the outbreak began, has seen more than 3,000 deaths, while the death toll in Italy stood at 148.

At current rates, the number of confirmed cases of the virus will surpass 100,000 on Friday.

About 3.4% of confirmed cases of the new coronavirus – known as COVID-19 – have died, far above seasonal flu’s fatality rate of under 1%, the World Health Organization said this week.

Singapore reported 13 new infections on Friday, its biggest daily jump, including a cabin crew member from Singapore Airlines.

In the United States, the world’s economic powerhouse, at least 57 new cases of coronavirus were confirmed as the virus struck for the first time in Colorado, Maryland, Tennessee and Texas, as well as San Francisco in California. Some 230 people have been infected in total and 12 have died.

Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Microsoft advised employees in the Seattle area to work from home, after some caught the virus. The companies’ work-from-home recommendation will affect more than 100,000 people in the area.

The U.S. Senate on Thursday passed an $8.3 billion bill to combat the outbreak, joining a slew of countries including China and South Korea in bolstering their war chests.

(Additonal reporting by Steve Gorman and Cath Turner in Los Angeles, Hideyuki Sano in Tokyo, Pamela Barbaglia, Karin Strohecker, Thyagaraju Adinarayan, Ritvik Carvalho and Tommy Wilkes in London, Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru; Writing by Pravin Char; Editing by Mark Heinrich and Nick Macfie)

Coronavirus outbreak ‘getting bigger’, WHO says

By Stephanie Nebehay and Ryan Woo

GENEVA/BEIJING (Reuters) – The rapid rise in coronavirus raised fears of a pandemic on Friday, with six countries reporting their first cases, the World Health Organization warning it could spread worldwide and Switzerland cancelling the giant Geneva car show.

World share markets crashed again, winding up their worst week since the 2008 global financial crisis and bringing the global wipeout to $6 trillion.

Hopes that the epidemic that started in China late last year would be over in months, and that economic activity would quickly return to normal, have been shattered as the number of international cases has spiralled.

“The outbreak is getting bigger,” WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier told reporters in Geneva.

“The scenario of the coronavirus reaching multiple countries, if not all countries around the world, is something we have been looking at and warning against since quite a while.”

Switzerland joined countries banning big events to try to curb the epidemic, forcing cancellation of next week’s Geneva international car show, one of the industry’s most important gatherings.

Mainland China reported 327 new cases, the lowest since Jan. 23, taking its tally to more than 78,800 cases with almost 2,800 deaths.

China’s three biggest airlines restored some international flights and the Shanghai fashion show, initially postponed, went ahead online.

TROOPS DEPLOYED

But as the outbreak eases in China, it is surging elsewhere.

Five more countries have reported their first case, all with travel history connected to Italy. They were Nigeria, Estonia, Denmark, Netherlands and Lithuania, Lindmeier said.

Mexico also detected its first cases of infection in two men who had travelled to Italy, making the country the second in Latin America to register the virus after Brazil.

Countries other than China now account for about three-quarters of new infections.

Bulgaria said it was ready to deploy up to 1,000 troops and military equipment to the border with Turkey to prevent illegal migrant inflows as steps up measures against the coronavirus. It has not reported any cases.

Mongolia, which has yet to confirm a case, placed its president, Battulga Khaltmaa, in quarantine as a precaution after he returned from a trip to China, state media reported.

A Chinese official called the epidemic the most difficult health crisis in the country’s modern history. Another said some recovered patients had been found to be infectious, suggesting the epidemic may be even harder to eradicate than previously thought.

Lindmeier said the WHO was looking very carefully into reports of some people getting re-infected.

In addition to stockpiling medical supplies, governments ordered schools shut and cancelled big gatherings to try to halt the flu-like disease.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration was considering invoking special powers to expand production of protective gear.

In Europe, France’s reported cases doubled, Germany warned of an impending epidemic and Greece, a gateway for refugees from the Middle East, announced tighter border controls.

The death toll in Italy, Europe’s worst-hit country, rose to 17 and those testing positive increased by more than 200 to 655.

Germany has nearly 60 cases, France about 38 and Spain 23, according to a Reuters count.

OLYMPIC DOUBTS

South Korea has the most cases outside China. It reported 571 new infections on Friday, bringing the total to 2,337 with 13 people killed.

The head of the WHO’s emergency programme, Dr Mike Ryan, said Iran’s outbreak may be worse than realised. It has the most deaths outside China – 34 from 388 reported cases.

U.S. intelligence agencies are monitoring the spread of coronavirus in Iran and India, where only a handful of cases have been reported, sources said.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the United States had offered to help Iran, raising doubts about its willingness to share information.

Japan is scheduled to host the 2020 Olympics in July but Ryan said discussions were being held about whether to go ahead.

Organisers will decide next week on the ceremonial torch relay, due to arrive on March 20 for a 121-day journey past landmarks including Mount Fuji and Hiroshima’s Peace Memorial Park.

A woman wearing a face mask collects food purchased through group orders at the entrance of a residential compound in Wuhan, the epicentre of the novel coronavirus outbreak, Hubei province, China February 28, 2020. REUTERS/Stringer CHINA OUT.

As of Friday, confirmed cases in Japan had risen above 200, with four deaths, excluding more than 700 cases on a quarantined cruise liner, Diamond Princess.

A British man infected on the ship had died, bringing the death toll among passenger to six, Kyodo newswire reported.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had called for schools to close and vowed to prevent a severe blow to an economy already teetering on the brink of recession.

In Moscow, authorities were deporting 88 foreigners who violated quarantine measures imposed on them as a precaution, the RIA news agency cited Moscow’s deputy mayor as saying.

Chinese-ruled Hong Kong, where the coronavirus has killed two and infected more than 90, quarantined a pet dog of a coronavirus patient after it tested “weak positive”, though authorities had no evidence the virus can be transmitted to pets.

 Follow this link for Interactive graphic tracking global spread of coronavirus.

(Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva, Ryan Woo, Yingzhi Yang in Beijing, Lisa Lambert and Mark Hosenball in Washington, Sangmi Chai in Seoul, Leika Kihara in Tokyo, Kate Kelland in London, Tsvetelia Tsolova in Sofia, Michael Shields and Brenna Hughes Neghaiwi in Zurich, Daina Beth Solomon in Mexico City; Writing by Robert Birsel, Giles Elgood and Nick Macfie; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore, Jon Boyle and Timothy Heritage)

Rate futures surge as coronavirus seen pushing Fed to ease

(Reuters) – U.S. interest rates futures surged to their highest levels since last fall as a global sell-off in stocks and panicked buying of government bonds fueled growing expectations that the Federal Reserve will soon be forced to respond with interest rate cuts.

The fed funds futures contract tied to the Fed’s July policy meeting reflected a probability of more than 80% that the central bank’s benchmark overnight lending rate would be at least a quarter percentage point lower after that meeting’s conclusion. It currently stands at 1.50%-1.75% after three rate cuts last year.

The moves come as Italy, South Korea and Iran all reported sharp increases in the number of coronavirus infections.

(Reporting By Dan Burns; Editing by Alex Richardson)

DSV plans Shanghai-Alabama cargo flights to ease capacity constraints amid coronavirus

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) – Freight-forwarder DSV Panalpina said on Friday it would start direct cargo flights between Shanghai and Huntsville, Alabama from next week to cope with capacity constraints caused by the coronavirus outbreak in China.

The global freight industry has been hard-hit by uncertain demand and crews’ health concerns following the outbreak of the deadly virus in China, leading airlines and freight firms to scale back services, causing delivery delays and mounting backlogs.

Starting on Feb. 25, DSV plans to operate flights between Shanghai and Huntsville thrice weekly using the firm’s Boeing 747-8 freighter plane, it said in a statement.

“Due to the risk of spreading of the coronavirus (COVID-19), multiple airlines have either suspended or reduced the number of flights to and from mainland China,” it said.

Crew on DSV’s plane would rest in South Korea before flying to Shanghai and would virtually not disembark the plane while in Shanghai before returning to the United States with cargo.

“By doing it this way we can safely have this setup,” Flemming Nielsen, executive vice president, told Reuters.

Last week DSV said the coronavirus was squeezing air and sea freight capacity, but that it was still possible to ship goods on airplanes to countries neighboring China and fly them out from there.

DSV said it estimates capacity has shrunk by 5,000 tons a day due to the suspension of flights to China.

(Reporting by Nikolaj Skydsgaard; Editing by Susan Fenton)

Too early for accurate figures on coronavirus impact on global growth: IMF

RABAT (Reuters) – It is premature to give precise projections of economic growth in China and the World in 2020 following the outbreak of coronavirus, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said on Thursday.

The IMF is still reviewing its projections for growth in China while looking at the impact of the epidemic on the global economy, Georgieva told a news conference in Morocco’s capital Rabat, where she discussed preparations for IMF and World Bank Group meetings to be held in October 2021 in Marrakech.

The IMF said last month global growth is projected to rise from an estimated 2.9% in 2019 to 3.3% in 2020 and 3.4% in 2021.

“We are still hoping that the impact will be a V shaped curve” with a sharp decline in China and sharp rebound after the containment of the virus, she said. “But we are not excluding that it might turn to be a different scenario like a U curve where the impact is somewhat longer.”

The IMF chief also said Argentina’s debt was unsustainable and that she would meet Argentinian Economy Minister Martin Guzman in two days to discuss “how the IMF can be of help”.

The IMF is willing to help Argentina stabilize its economy, support its most vulnerable people and address poverty “in a responsible manner”, Georgieva added.

The Buenos Aires government must carry out negotiations with creditors, she said, adding, “The government already announced its commitment to a collaborative process with its creditors”.

(Reporting by Ahmed Eljechtimi; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

Britain to United States: We want a trade deal and a digital tax

Britain to United States: We want a trade deal and a digital tax
LONDON (Reuters) – Britain wants a trade deal with the United States but will impose a digital service tax on the revenue of companies such as Google, Facebook and Amazon, business minister Andrea Leadsom said on Thursday.

“The United States and the United Kingdom are committed to entering into a trade deal with each other and we have a very strong relationship that goes back centuries so some of the disagreements that we might have over particular issues don’t in any way damage the excellent and strong and deep relationship between the U.S. and the UK,” Leadsom told Talk Radio.

“There are always tough negotiations and tough talk but I think where the tech tax is concerned it’s absolutely vital that these huge multinationals who are making incredible amounts of income and profit should be taxed and what we want to do is to work internationally with the rest of the world to cover with a proper regime that ensures that they’re paying their fair share.”

Under the British plan, tech companies that generate at least 500 million pounds ($657 million) a year in global revenue will pay a levy of 2% of the money they make from UK users from April 2020.

(Reporting by Elizabeth Howcroft; writing by Guy Faulconbridge; editing by Kate Holton)

Oil back in positive territory ahead of U.S.-China trade deal

By Ron Bousso

LONDON (Reuters) – Global oil benchmark Brent crude rose to more than $64.50, recovering from four days of declines on easing Middle East tensions, as the United States and China prepared to sign a preliminary trade deal.

Brent crude gained 43 cents, or 0.7%, to $64.63 a barrel by 1507 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 11 cents, or 0.2%, to $58.20 a barrel.

The outlook for oil demand was supported by the expected signing of a Phase 1 U.S.-China trade deal on Wednesday, marking a major step in ending a dispute that has cut global growth and dented demand for oil.

China has pledged to buy more than $50 billion in energy supplies from the United States over the next two years, according to a source briefed on the trade deal.

The trade war between the world’s two biggest energy consumers had a tangible impact on global oil demand growth last year, said Tamas Varga, an analyst at broker PVM. Varga pointed to 2019 demand growth of 890,000 barrels per day (bpd), compared with initial forecasts of 1.5 million bpd.

“This year, however, the pace is expected to pick up again and average 1.25 million bpd … In the event of a trade deal upward revisions can be anticipated,” Varga said.

Regardless of trade wars, China’s crude oil imports in 2019 surged 9.5% from the previous year, setting a record for a 17th straight year as demand growth from new refineries propelled purchases by the world’s top importer, data showed.

However, gains were limited by easing concern over possible supply disruptions as a result of tensions in the Middle East.

The recent declines came as investors unwound bullish positions built after the killing of a senior Iranian general in a U.S. air strike on Jan. 2, which sent oil prices to a four-month high, said Harry Tchilinguirian, global oil strategist at BNP Paribas in London.

“As geopolitical tensions take a back seat for now, we may see more of the same in the short term,” Tchilinguirian told the Reuters Global Oil Forum.

Saudi Arabia’s energy minister, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, said his country will work for oil market stability at a time of heightened U.S.-Iranian tension.

He also said it was too early to talk about whether the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies, a group known as OPEC+, would continue with production curbs that are due to expire in March.

Separately, U.S. crude oil inventories were expected to have fallen last week, a preliminary Reuters poll showed on Monday.

The poll was conducted ahead of reports from the American Petroleum Institute (API), an industry group, and the Energy Information Administration, an agency of the U.S. Department of Energy.

(Additional reporting By Jessica Jaganathan; Editing by Louise Heavens and David Goodman)

China says in touch with U.S. on signing of Phase 1 trade deal

China says in touch with U.S. on signing of Phase 1 trade deal
BEIJING (Reuters) – China and the United States are in touch over the signing of their Phase 1 trade deal, China’s commerce ministry said, which will see lower U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods and higher Chinese purchases of U.S. farm, energy and manufactured goods.

The Phase 1 deal was announced last week after more than two years of on-and-off trade talks, although neither side has released many specific details of the agreement.

Both the Chinese and U.S. trade teams are in close communication, Gao Feng, a spokesman at the Chinese commerce ministry, told reporters at a regular briefing on Thursday, adding there is no specific information on the deal to disclose currently.

“After the official signing of the deal, the content of the agreement will be made public,” Gao said.

U.S. officials say China agreed to increase purchases of U.S. products and services by at least $200 billion over the next two years.

According to Washington, that would include additional purchases of U.S. farm products of $32 billion over two years. That would average an annual total of about $40 billion, compared to a baseline of $24 billion in 2017 before the trade war started.

Chinese officials have so far not publicly confirmed much of Washington’s version – especially on goods purchase commitments. But China said on Friday when the deal was announced that it will import more U.S. wheat, rice, corn, energy, pharmaceuticals and financial services.

Earlier on Thursday, China unveiled a new list of tariff exemptions for U.S. imports, mostly chemical products, days after the world’s two largest economies announced the Phase 1 deal. China said the second part of the waiver list will be released at an appropriate time.

Washington said the deal also includes stronger Chinese legal protections for patents, trademarks, copyrights, including improved criminal and civil procedures to combat online infringement, pirated and counterfeit goods.

The two countries have reached a consensus over the protection of trade secrets, guarding intellectual property rights for pharmaceutical products, and cracking down on counterfeits and pirated goods on e-commerce platforms, Chinese Vice Minister of Commerce Wang Shouwen said on Friday.

China will step up protection of intellectual property but at its own pace, Wang said.

(Reporting by Stella Qiu and Martin Pollard; Writing by Ryan Woo; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman, Lincoln Feast and Giles Elgood)

China says hopes it can reach trade agreement with U.S. as soon as possible

China says hopes it can reach trade agreement with U.S. as soon as possible
BEIJING (Reuters) – China said on Monday that it hoped to make a trade deal with the United States as soon as possible, amid intense discussions before fresh U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports are due to kick in at the end of the week.

Beijing hopes it can reach a trade agreement with the United States that satisfies both sides, Assistant Commerce Minister Ren Hongbin told reporters on Monday.

“On the question of China-U.S. trade talks and negotiations, we wish that both sides can, on the foundation of equality and mutual respect, push forward negotiations, and in consideration of each others’ core interests, reach an agreement that satisfies all sides as soon as possible,” Ren said.

China and the United States are negotiating a so-called “phase one” deal aimed at de-escalating their prolonged trade dispute, but it is unclear whether such an agreement can be reached in the near term.

Washington’s next round of tariffs against Chinese goods are scheduled to take effect on Dec. 15.

China has demanded that some of the existing U.S. tariffs imposed on about $375 billion worth of its exports be removed, in addition to cancellation of the Dec. 15 tariffs on some $156 billion of its remaining exports to the United States.

U.S. President Donald Trump has demanded that China commit to specific minimum purchases of U.S. agricultural products, among other concessions on intellectual property rights, currency and access to China’s financial services markets.

White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said on Friday that the two sides had talked almost daily, but there were currently no plans for face-to-face talks or a signing ceremony between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

With less than a week to go before the deadline amid “intense” negotiations, Kudlow said Trump would make the final decision on the tariffs, which would hit Chinese-made cellphones, laptop computers, toys and clothing.

“We’ll have to see, but right now we’re moving along,” Trump said last week. “On December 15th, something could happen, but we are not discussing that yet. We are having very good discussions with China, however.”

(Reporting by Gabriel Crossley, writing by Se Young Lee and Ryan Woo; Editing by Himani Sarkar & Kim Coghill)