A Chinese delegation headed by Deputy Prime Minister Liu He will travel to Washington on January 13 to sign the “phase one” of the trade agreement, which will serve as a basis to try to end the disputes between the two powers.

According to the sources close to the negotiations, explains that the Chinese delegation had planned to make this trip earlier this month, but that it was finally postponed after US President Donald Trump announced that the agreement will be signed on day 15.

The Chinese team will finally travel on the 13th and will stay in the US capital until 16, according to the information.

Trump announced on December 31 that he will sign on January 15 the “very large and wide” phase one of the trade agreement with China in the White House with the presence of senior Beijing officials but without President Xi Jinping.

“I will be signing our very large and broad phase one of the trade agreement with China on January 15. The ceremony will take place at the White House. High-level representatives from China will be present”, Trump said in his Twitter account.

At first, the president had pointed out that in the act of ratification of the agreement he would have the presence of Xi.

“At a later date, I will be traveling to Beijing, where the talks for the second phase will begin”, he added.

A year and a half of commercial war

After almost 18 months of trade war and the subsequent escalation of tariffs, the two sides announced in December 2019 that they had reached a partial agreement that includes the progressive withdrawal of levies and the increase in Chinese purchases of US products.

Chinese Vice Minister of Commerce Wang Shouwen confirmed that the first phase of the pact addresses issues such as technology transfer, intellectual property, trade expansion and the establishment of dispute resolution mechanisms, among others.

The agreement implies, however, that US tariffs of 25% are maintained on Chinese imports valued at 250,000 million dollars, along with reduced levies of 7.5% on additional imports valued at approximately 120,000 million dollars.

Negotiations between both parties have suffered several shocks, with conflicting information and veiled criticism, since a principle of agreement was announced in October.

Trade tensions between the two major world economies, which began last year, have had profound consequences.

In its latest global growth forecasts, published in October, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) lowered its projections of expansion to 3% this year, two tenths less than in July, weighed down by the doubts generated by this dispute.