The US and Chinese governments last week called a truce in their prolonged trade war with both countries suspending import tariff hikes scheduled to come into effect on 15 December.

The US also agreed to roll back some tariffs introduced over the last two years.

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The trade war between the world's two largest economies had unsettled global markets in the last two years and reduced demand across the Asia-Pacific region, slowing economic growth.

The two countries are scheduled to formally sign a Phase One agreement in the first week of January 2020 which would halt further escalation of the trade war, allowing President Donald Trump to focus on his re-election campaign. 

Many economists see the Phase One agreement as a small victory for Beijing with the Trump administration agreeing to postpone indefinitely the imposition of an additional 15% import tariff on some US$160bn worth of Chinese products originally scheduled for 15 December, including automotive and electronic goods.

China, in return, has committed to buying an additional US$200bn in US goods and services over two years – which would cut the US trade deficit with China by a third based on recent trade data. This will also provide support for US farmers in an important election year.

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Beijing agreed to postpone imposing additional import tariffs of 25% on US made vehicles, which would have raised import tariffs to 40%, with duties now set to remain at the current level of 15%. The additional tariffs would have hurt BMW and Mercedes most, as they are the largest exporters of US-made vehicles to China.

The US Trade Representative office said the Phase One agreement will also include provisions to enforce and improve protection for US technology and other intellectual property rights.

Trump suggested in a Twitter post that Beijing has "agreed to make many structural changes and make massive purchases of US agricultural products, energy and manufactured goods, plus much more".

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