China offered to buy nearly $70 billion in American farm, manufacturing and energy products to persuade Washington to drop threatened tariffs, according to a news report on Tuesday. Top Chinese economic advisor Liu He presented the offer to the American team during the latest round of talks in Beijing last weekend, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing knowledgeable sources.
Under the plan, china would buy a basket of US goods, including soy beans, natural gas, crude oil and coal.
But the talks did not appear to yield a breakthrough in the trade impasse between Washington and Beijing. Representatives of the US Commerce Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The office of US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, which sent officials to participate in the weekend talks, told AFP on it had no comment on the report.
In 2017, US exports to China were valued at $130.4 billion, meaning China's offer would amount to a 53.8 percent increase.
Counting only goods and excluding services, as US President Donald Trump frequently does, the US trade deficit rose to a record $375 billion last year. The White House has demanded a $200 billion reduction.
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