Chinese Commerce Ministry spokesman Gao Feng said in a regularly weekly press briefing that working-level teams from US and China will meet soon in preparation for high-level trade talks next month. Additionally, Chinese companies has started inquiry on US agricultural products, including pork and soybeans. Gao added that China hope both countries could create favorable conditions for negotiations.

The comments came after US President Donald Trump announced yesterday to postpone the additional 5% tariffs on China from October 1 to October 15. That’s in responses to China’s tariff exemptions on some American imports.

As a gesture of exchange of good will, US President Donald Trump announced yesterday to delay the next batch of tariffs on China by half a month. The imposition of additional 5 tariffs on USD 250B in Chinese imports will be postponed from October 1 to October 15.

Trump tweeted: “At the request of the Vice Premier of China, Liu He, and due to the fact that the People’s Republic of China will be celebrating their 70th Anniversary on October 1st, we have agreed, as a gesture of good will, to move the increased Tariffs on 250 Billion Dollars worth of goods (25% to 30%), from October 1st to October 15th.”

Earlier, China announced to exempt 16 categories of US imports from new tariffs, including some anti-cancer drugs and lubricants, as well as animal feed ingredients whey and fish meal. Trump referred to that separately and said “They made a couple of moves … that were pretty good… I think it was a gesture, okay? But it was a big move.”

The moves by both sides are more symbolic than substantial in nature. Yet, it’s a sign that both are working towards to create an easier atmosphere for the expected face-to-face high level trade meeting in Washington next month.

Sentiments are lifted after China announced to exempt range of US imports from the 25% tariffs imposed last year. The exemptions cover 16 categories of products, ranging from fish food to pesticides, and will be effective from Sept. 17 to Sept. 16 2020. Negotiations between the teams are continuing, in preparation for top level meeting to be held in Washington next month.

Additionally, China also announced yesterday to abolish the investment quota restriction for Qualified Foreign Institutional Investors (QFII) and Renminbi Qualified Foreign Institutional Investors (RQFII) to boost financial reforms and opening-up.

The American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai warned that with no sign of a trade agreement between US and China, “2019 will be a difficult year” and “2020 may be worse”. It said that “revenue growth projections have lowered, optimism about the future has waned, and many companies are redirecting investment originally planned for China”.

In the 2019 China Business Report, AmCham noted that the survey results are “decidedly mixed”. In particular, revenue growth estimates for 2019 are weak. Only 50.5% of companies expect revenues to beat their 2018 numbers. 27.1% of companies anticipate lower revenues, markedly up from the 6.1% that projected lower revenues for 2018. 47.6% of automotive companies anticipate lower revenues.

Five-year optimism dropped by one fifth to 61.4%, against historical rates of 80-90%, while pessimism about the future rose by 14.0 percentage points. The most downbeat industries included non-consumer electronics and chemicals.

35.6% of survey respondents see the U.S.-China trade tensions continuing for 1-3 years, and 12.7% expect them to continue for 3-5 years. 16.9% believe the trade tensions will continue indefinitely. 53.4% of companies say that they are either delaying or reducing investment as a direct result of the U.S.-China trade tensions, with only 4.5% increasing investment in response.

Full report here.

US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said currency manipulation will be a focus in the upcoming trade talk with China. He said yesterday that “I expect the governor of the People’s Bank of China to come over for these talks… So part of the conversations we will be having with them is around currency and currency manipulation.”

He added that “If the RMB depreciates 15 percent and you put on a 15 percent tariff, that means that U.S. companies can buy in dollars items 15 percent cheaper. So the fact that they buy things 15 percent cheaper means that China is paying for indeed the tariff”. And, “it really is simple math with depreciation of the RMB.”

Separately, Mnuchin also told Fox yesterday that there was a “conceptual” agreement on enforcement of the agreement. “They’re coming here. I take that as a sign of good faith that they want to continue to negotiate, and we’re prepared to negotiate,” Mnuchin said.