US-China Relations

Ambassador: Trump asked Xi if he wanted to buy weapons

US President Donald Trump asked Chinese leader Xi Jinping if he wanted to buy American weapons. This was revealed to the AP by the US Ambassador to China.

If Xi were—against all odds—to say yes, it would upend US policy regarding China and Taiwan, and furthermore place American technology in the hands of a potential adversary, according to Ambassador David Perdue.

In a statement, the US State Department noted that the US prohibits arms sales to China and that there are no offers or plans to sell weapons to China in the future.

Xi Jinping visited Trump in the US last week.

US and China to lower tariffs on goods worth 600 billion following summit

China and the US have agreed to lower tariffs on goods totaling $60 billion—nearly 600 billion kronor—that the countries import from one another, Reuters reports.

The agreement covers thousands of non-sensitive goods valued at $30 billion in each direction, which will receive more favorable tariff treatment, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer stated on Sunday.

The goods include, among other things, American corn and cosmetics, as well as Chinese household appliances and toys.

The reciprocal tariff reductions and an extension of the trade truce were two of the key outcomes of last week's summit between Presidents Xi Jinping and Donald Trump, the news agency writes.