BEIJING: China appealed to Washington for a quick end to their trade war but gave no indication Thursday what additional steps Beijing might want before carrying out what President Donald Trump says is a promise to buy up to $50 billion of American farm goods.
Trump agreed Friday to delay a tariff hike in exchange for Chinese purchases of US exports. Beijing says it will buy more American goods but has yet to confirm the details, leaving companies wondering whether Chinese leaders have other demands including a possible end to punitive US tariffs before that goes ahead.
Negotiators are “striving to reach a consensus on the text of the agreement as soon as possible,” said a Ministry of Commerce spokesman, Gao Feng. “I can’t disclose the specific details.”
US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told reporters Wednesday that officials were still ironing out details of a preliminary agreement.
Companies welcomed the deal as a small but promising possible step toward breaking a deadlock in the 15-month-old fight over China’s trade surplus and technology ambitions.
Tariff hikes by both sides on billions of dollars of imports have battered factories and farmers, weighing on global economic growth. Trump delayed a tariff due to take effect Tuesday on $250 billion of Chinese goods but another increase on $160 billion of imports still is scheduled for Dec. 15.
Economists warned the truce fails to address more basic complaints about Beijing’s plans for government-led creation of global competitors in robotics and other technologies.
Washington, Europe, Japan and other trading partners say those violate Chinese market-opening commitments and are based on stealing or pressuring companies to hand over know-how.
China wants “economic and trade relations back on the right track at an early date,” Gao said at a weekly news briefing.
Achieving results will “restore market confidence and also is highly significant for stabilizing the global economic situation,” he said.
On Tuesday, a foreign ministry spokesman said China would “further speed up procurement” of American farm exports but gave no scale or time frame.
China has bought 20 million tons of US soybeans and 700,000 tons of pork this year, according to the spokesman, Geng Shuang. China imported about 33 million tons of American soybeans annually before the tariff fight and collapsed to 16.6 million tons last year.
China appeals to Washington for quick end to trade war
China appeals to Washington for quick end to trade war
- Beijing says it will buy more American goods but has yet to confirm the details
- Tariff hikes by both sides on billions of dollars of imports have battered factories and farmers
Closing Bell: Saudi main index closes in red at 10,847
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul All Share Index dipped on Wednesday, losing 58.51 points, or 0.54 percent, to close at 10,847.93.
The total trading turnover of the benchmark index was SR3.78 billion ($1 billion), as 73 of the listed stocks advanced, while 187 retreated.
The MSCI Tadawul Index decreased, down 7.09 points or 0.48 percent, to close at 1,472.98.
The Kingdom’s parallel market Nomu lost 178.75 points, or 0.77 percent, to close at 22,916.83. This comes as 30 of the listed stocks advanced, while 37 retreated.
The best-performing stock was the Power and Water Utility Co. for Jubail and Yanbu, with its share price surging by 8.47 percent to SR31.24.
Other top performers included Saudi Paper Manufacturing Co., which saw its share price rise by 6.13 percent to SR53.70, and Jamjoom Pharmaceuticals Factory Co., which saw a 4.58 percent increase to SR137.
On the downside, the worst performer of the day was CHUBB Arabia Cooperative Insurance Co., whose share price fell by 5.14 percent to SR17.53.
Saudi Kayan Petrochemical Co. and Arabian Internet and Communications Services Co. also saw declines, with their shares dropping by 4.87 percent and 4.43 percent to SR4.88 and SR181.40, respectively.
On the announcement front, Saudi Kayan Petrochemical Co. announced its annual financial results for 2025, with sales dropping 3.06 percent year-on-year to SR8.45 billion. The company also recorded a net loss of SR893.86 million.
In a Tadawul statement, the company said the net loss and decline in annual sales were driven by a drop in average selling prices, despite higher sales volumes.
