Why this is important to Wisconsin businesses: The two countries are relaxing restrictions on trade of beef, chicken, liquefied natural gas, and financial services, among other categories.
Presidents Trump and Xi ended their first summit in April with an agreement to a 100-day plan to address U.S.-China trade issues. During the 100 days, both the U.S. and China are proposing ideas to improve the U.S.-China trade and economic relationship.
In the month following the Presidential Summit, the two sides reached consensus on issues in areas including agricultural trade, financial services, investment and energy. Some highlights are that China will resume imports of U.S. beef, while the U.S. will import poultry from China. The U.S. expects China and other partners to import liquefied natural gas, and China will allow wholly foreign-funded financial services firms to provide credit ratings in China.
The agreement would also streamline the evaluation of pending U.S. biotechnology product applications. In the energy sector, the U.S. already is shipping some liquefied natural gas to China, and China is able to negotiate any type of contract, including long-term contracts, with U.S. suppliers. In financial services, China pledged to grant market access to U.S. credit rating agencies and credit card companies and agreed to issue licenses to "two qualified U.S. financial institutions" for the interbank bond underwriting and settlement business.
Most of the agreed-upon provisions are expected to be implemented by July 16. The two sides also agreed to discuss extending the initial 100-day action plan to a one-year plan.
In announcing the agreement on May 11, U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said: "U.S.-China relationships are now hitting a new high, especially in trade."