At a dinner meeting on December 1, 2018, at the G-20 summit in Buenos Aires, U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to begin negotiations on changes regarding forced technology transfer, intellectual property protection, non-tariff barriers, cyber intrusions and cyber theft, services and agriculture. Both agreed to seek completion of such discussions over the next 90 days. As part of the deal, Trump agreed to postpone the import tariff increase on the third tranche of Chinese products from 10 percent to 25 percent scheduled for January 1, 2019. Xi agreed to purchase a not yet agreed upon, but “very substantial,” amount of agricultural, energy, industrial and other products from the United States to reduce the trade imbalance between the United States and China. If the talks do not result in a deal, the Trump administration will implement the 25 percent tariff on the third tranche of Chinese products.
In a brief press statement, Trump stated: “This was an amazing and productive meeting with unlimited possibilities for both the United States and China. It is my great honor to be working with President Xi.”