US, China sign 'momentous' trade deal.

WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump signed a long-awaited "phase one" trade deal with China on Wednesday, which includes a massive increase in exports to the Asian economic power. China agreed to buy $200 billion more in US goods over two years than it did in 2017 before the trade war erupted, according to the agreement signed on Wednesday. That includes an additional $32 billion in American farm products and seafood, nearly $78 billion in manufactured goods like aircraft, machinery and steel, and $52 billion in energy products. The agreement will also roll back some tariffs, defusing an 18-month conflict between the world's two largest economies. Beijing and Washington have portrayed their "Phase 1" agreement as a momentous step after months of start-stop talks punctuated by tit-for-tat tariffs that uprooted supply chains and stoked fears of a further slowdown in the global economy. "Together we are righting the wrongs of the past and delivering a future of economic justice and security for American workers, farmers and families,'

Trump said as he touted the deal in rambling, partisan remarks at the White House alongside Chinese Vice Premier Liu He and other officials. The centrepiece of the deal is a pledge by China to purchase at least an additional $200 billion worth of US farm products and other goods and services over two years, over a baseline of $186 billion in purchases in 2017. The deal would include $50 billion in additional orders for US agricultural products, Trump said, adding he was confident that US farmers would be able to meet the greater demand. He also said China would buy $40 billion to $50 billion in additional US services, $75 billion more in manufacturing goods, and $50 billion more worth of energy supplies. Officials from both countries have touted the deal as ushering in a new era for US-Sino relations, but it fails to address many of the structural differences that led the Trump administration to start the...