U.S. Settles on Outline of Elusive Phase One Trade Deal
中美敲定第一阶段贸易协议条款

WASHINGTON — The United States has settled on final terms of a Phase 1 trade deal with China, moving both countries closer to signing a pact that President Trump originally announced in October, four people familiar with the negotiations said.

华盛顿——四名熟悉谈判情况的知情人士称，美国已与中国达成了第一阶段贸易协议的最终条款，这使两国签署特朗普总统最初于10月宣布的协议又近了一步。

Mr. Trump met with his top economic advisers Thursday afternoon at the White House to discuss an arrangement that would reduce by half the overall rate on the tariffs he has placed on $360 billion of goods, in return for Chinese commitments to buy American agriculture and other concessions, the people said.

知情人士说，特朗普周四下午在白宫会见了他的高级经济顾问，讨论安排对3600亿美元商品加征关税的总体税率降低一半，以换取中国对购买美国农产品及其他问题让步。

The president was widely expected to announce that he would delay or cancel new tariffs that were scheduled to go into effect on Sunday on $160 billion of consumer products from China. On Thursday morning, he said on Twitter that the United States was closing in on a deal.

人们普遍预计，总统将宣布延迟或取消原定于周日生效、对来自中国的1600亿美元消费品征收的新关税。周四早晨，他在推特上说，美国即将达成协议。

“Getting VERY close to a BIG DEAL with China. They want it, and so do we!” the president wrote.

“与中国的重大协议就快达成了。他们想要，我们也想要！”总统写道。

Mr. Trump has yet to make an official announcement about progress on the deal or the tariffs he had planned for Sunday. Both sides have said before that they were on the verge of an agreement, only for the talks to collapse.

特朗普尚未就交易的进展或计划在周日征收的关税发表正式声明。双方此前都曾表示他们马上就要达成协议，但谈判破裂。

Michael Pillsbury, a China scholar at the Hudson Institute who advises the White House on trade, said that he had spoken to the president on Thursday afternoon about the agreement.

为白宫提供贸易咨询的哈德逊研究所(Hudson Institute)中国问题学者白邦瑞(Michael Pillsbury)说，他已在周四下午与总统就该协议进行了交谈。

“This is a historic breakthrough,” Mr. Pillsbury said, attributing the agreement to the strong relationship between Mr. Trump and his Chinese counterpart, President Xi Jinping.

“这是历史性的突破，”白邦瑞说，并将协议归因于特朗普与中国国家主席习近平的牢固关系。

Mr. Pillsbury said that the agreement included a rollback of some of the tariffs that Mr. Trump has imposed on China in exchange for China bolstering its annual purchases of American products to about $50 billion next year. As part of the pact, Mr. Pillsbury said, China would also enforce stronger protections for American intellectual property, open its markets to American financial institutions and commit to greater transparency surrounding the management of its currency.

白邦瑞表示，该协议包括撤回特朗普对中国征收的部分关税，以换取中国明年对美国产品的年度购买额提高至500亿美元左右。他说，作为协议的一部分，中国还将加强对美国知识产权的保护，向美国金融机构开放市场，并承诺提高货币管理的透明度。

The second phase of the agreement, which Mr. Pillsbury said would include changes to China’s industrial policy, will be addressed after the 2020 election.

白邦瑞说，协议的第二阶段将包括对中国工业政策的改变，将在2020年大选后讨论。

The Chinese Embassy in Washington directed inquiries to the Ministry of Commerce in Beijing.

中国驻华盛顿的使馆让记者直接向北京的商务部了解情况。

Stocks rose to a record on Thursday, with the S&P 500 gaining nearly 0.9 percent, and the yield on the 10-year Treasury note touched 1.91 percent, the highest level in almost a month.

股票周四涨至历史新高，标准普尔500指数上涨近0.9%，十年期美国国债收益率触及1.91%，为近一个月来的最高水平。

The benchmark has been trading in record territory as investors anticipate a de-escalation of the trade war, and amid signs that the domestic economy is holding up.

该指标一直处于创纪录水平，因为投资者预计贸易战局势降级，而且有迹象表明国内经济正保持稳定。

“We’re encouraged that China and the United States seem on the verge of a breakthrough on the Phase 1 negotiations,” said Myron Brilliant, the executive vice president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. “If accurate, it would be a positive first step in improving our commercial relationship at a time of great uncertainty.”

“我们很高兴中美双方在第一阶段的谈判中似乎即将取得突破。”美国商会(U.S. Chamber of Commerce)常务副会长薄迈伦(Myron Brilliant)说。“如果准确的话，这将是在充满不确定性的时期改善我们商业关系的积极的第一步。”

In October, Mr. Trump announced that the United States and China had reached an agreement in principle on the first phase of a trade deal. But in the weeks since, a concrete agreement proved elusive as the two countries grappled over its precise terms.

10月，特朗普宣布，美中就贸易协议的第一阶段达成了原则性协议。但在那之后的几周里，由于两国在具体条款上存在分歧，难以达成具体协议。

Chinese negotiators pushed their American counterparts to remove as many of the existing tariffs as possible, while the Trump administration pressed China to make more purchases of soybeans, poultry and other goods to help relieve the pressure the trade war had put on American farmers. Mr. Trump also wants China to buy more American products to help narrow the trade gap between what the United States sells to China and what it imports.

中国谈判代表敦促美国谈判代表尽量多取消现有的关税，特朗普政府则敦促中国购买更多大豆、家禽和其他商品，缓解贸易战给美国农民带来的压力。特朗普还希望中国购买更多美国产品，缩小美国对华进出口的贸易逆差。

To ensure that China keeps its commitments, the Trump administration has insisted on quarterly reviews, as well as an agreement that China’s agricultural purchases would not drop below a certain amount. If China violates the terms of the agreement, tariffs that the Trump administration had removed would snap back into place. The deal would also require China to strengthen its protections for American intellectual property and open its financial markets to foreign companies, among other changes.

为了确保中国信守承诺，特朗普政府坚持要求进行季度评估，并达成一项协议，规定中国的农业采购不会低于一定数额。如果中国违反协议条款，特朗普政府取消的关税将迅速恢复。该协议还将要求中国加强对美国知识产权的保护，向外国公司开放金融市场，并且做出其他一些改变。

China has been willing to discuss purchases of American agriculture, especially since a disease has devastated its swine population and led to spiraling pork prices. But in previous discussions, Chinese negotiators had pushed back against promising set purchase amounts far into the future, saying such an arrangement could anger its trading partners and violate its commitment to the World Trade Organization to treat all members equally.

中国一直愿意讨论购买美国农产品的问题，特别是一种猪瘟打击了中国的生猪数量，导致猪肉价格不断上涨之后。但在此前的谈判中，中国谈判代表一直反对承诺在未来长期增加固定采购量，称这样的安排可能激怒中国的贸易伙伴，违反中国对世界贸易组织平等对待所有成员国的承诺。

In recent months, American and Chinese officials have been locked in a contentious discussion of what proportion of American concerns about Chinese economic practices are being addressed in the Phase 1 deal, and whether a corresponding proportion of Mr. Trump’s tariffs should be rolled back. The Chinese had enumerated the American requests into a list of more than 100 items, and have argued that if they resolve half of them, then half of Mr. Trump’s existing tariffs should be removed.

近几个月来，美中官员胶着在一场有争议的讨论之中，即第一阶段协议应在多大程度上解决美国对中国经济行为的担忧，以及特朗普的关税是否应该相应降低。中国把美国的要求列为清单，上面有100多个项目，提出如果中国解决了其中的一半，那么特朗普现有关税就应该取消一半。

Some American analysts have criticized the approach, saying a significant reduction could leave the United States with less leverage for the second- and third-phase discussions that are planned, in which even more difficult subjects like Chinese subsidies would be included. They also point to the depreciation this year in China’s currency, the renminbi, saying that drop would almost offset the effect of the tariffs.

一些美国分析人士对这一做法提出了批评，他们说，大幅削减关税可能会让美国在计划中的第二和第三阶段谈判中失去筹码，届时将面对中国补贴等更困难的议题。他们还指出，今年人民币的贬值几乎抵消了关税的影响。

But others say an across-the-board reduction in the rate of all existing tariffs does offer the Americans some advantages, including not having to pick and choose among industries that would receive tariff relief.

但也有人表示，全面降低全部现有关税的确给美国人带来了一些好处，包括不必对获得关税减免的行业进行挑选。

The last tranche of tariffs, scheduled to go into effect at 12:01 a.m. on Sunday, would extend levies to cover nearly every shoe, laptop and toy that the United States imports from China — a total of $539.5 billion of merchandise last year. Companies have been eagerly watching to see whether the administration would issue the official announcement that will stop those levies from going into effect.

最后一批关税定于周日凌晨12点01分生效，将把征税范围扩大到几乎所有美国从中国进口的鞋履、笔记本电脑和玩具——去年这部分进口商品价值在5395亿美元。企业一直在密切关注政府是否会发布官方声明，阻止这些关税生效。

Many of Mr. Trump’s advisers have been wary of increasing tariffs on China as negotiators from both sides are trying to reach agreement on the first phase of a trade deal. Still, the urge to delay the tariffs — or to reach a deal — has not been unanimous. Peter Navarro, Mr. Trump’s hawkish trade adviser, circulated a memo this week that makes the case for forging ahead with additional tariffs and delaying any deal until after the 2020 election.