New tariff rollbacks key to US trade contract.

China and the United States are busy conducting in-depth discussions on a phase-one trade agreement and additional tariff rollbacks are key to signing a deal, China's Ministry of Commerce said on Thursday.

If the two sides reach a preliminary agreement, the degree of tariff removals will fully reflect the importance of the agreement, ministry spokesman Gao Feng said at a weekly briefing.

"The importance of the deal should be measured by both parties," Gao said, adding that the two countries' negotiating teams are holding in-depth consultations on the topic.

Last week, Gao said at a regular briefing that China and the US have agreed to lift additional tariffs on each other's goods step by step if a trade deal is struck. The phase-one deal was outlined by both the negotiating teams in early October.

He did not specifically respond to comments from US President Donald Trump on Friday where the president had said that he had not agreed to remove additional tariffs on Chinese products.

Gao said the trade conflict began because of additional tariffs so a truce...