The trade truce with China set to be signed on Wednesday does not include a deal to roll back tariffs imposed on most Chinese goods, US officials said in a statement Tuesday.

The joint statement from the Treasury and the US Trade Representative's office said "there is no agreement for future reduction in tariffs. Any rumors to the contrary are categorically false."

The statement came after a Bloomberg report said tariffs on billions of dollars in Chinese goods will stay in place until after the US presidential election in November, after which they might be removed.

After nearly two years of conflict and the exchange of punishing tariffs that have had a negative impact on business investment and global economic growth, President Donald Trump last month announced a "phase one" trade deal with Beijing.

As part of the deal he agreed to cancel a new tranche of painful import duties on consumer goods that had been scheduled to hit on December 15.

In addition the US agreed to slash in half the 15 percent tariffs on $120 billion imposed September 1 on consumer goods like clothing.

Officials have said the details of the trade pact will be made public Wednesday.

However, "There are no other oral or written agreements between the United States and China on these matters," the USTR and Treasury said.

China trade surplus with US dropped 8.5% to $296 bn in 2019
Beijing (AFP) Jan 14, 2020 - China's trade surplus with the United States narrowed last year as the world's two biggest economies exchanged punitive tariffs in a bruising trade war, data showed Tuesday, just as the two prepare to sign a deal dialling down tensions.

The huge difference in trade traffic is a key bone of contention for Donald Trump in a long-running stand-off that has seen him impose tariffs on goods worth hundreds of billions of dollars, triggering retaliation from Beijing and jolting the global economy.

China's surplus came in at around $295.8 billion in 2019, down 8.5 percent from the previous year's record $323.3 billion, according to customs data.

In December, its surplus with the US was around $23.2 billion, from $24.6 billion the month before.

The mini trade deal announced last month will see Beijing buy an extra $200 billion of US products over a two-year period, according to Washington officials. China has yet to publicly confirm the figures.

The Trump administration called off new tariffs on Chinese-made goods such as electronics that were to take effect last month. It also halved those imposed on September 1 on $120 billion worth of products.

But Washington maintains 25 percent tariffs on about $250 billion worth of Chinese imports.

In a further sign of de-escalation, Washington on Monday removed the currency manipulator label it imposed on China in the summer.

At a news conference on Tuesday, spokesman for the customs administration Zou Zhiwu said that since November and December, Chinese imports from the US including of soybeans and pork have picked up.

Zou added that the increased imports from the US will not affect China's purchases from other countries.

He also said the trade tensions had "put some pressure on China's foreign trade and firms that largely trade with the US".

"Although our exports to the US have declined, the effectiveness of enterprises diversifying their markets has been significant," he said, adding that exports to non-US markets have risen and overall exports are still rising.

The signing of the new trade deal, which is part of a planned wider pact, will have an "important and positive significance" not just for China and the US but also the rest of the world, Zou said.

China's foreign trade volume fell slightly on-year in 2019, and its surplus with the world stood at $421.5 billion.

- China pork imports rise -

In December, China's exports rose 7.6 percent on-year, the growth since July and above the 2.9 percent forecast in a Bloomberg News survey. Imports surged 16.3 percent, far exceeding estimates.

For the full year, exports rose 0.5 percent while imports fell 2.8 percent.

Meat imports spiked over the past 12 months as officials brought in 2.108 million ton of pork -- a 75 percent increase from the year before, while beef imports rose 60 percent.

The huge jumps come as the country's pork supply is hammered by an outbreak of African swine fever that has wiped out about 40 percent of the national pig herd.

Nick Marro at The Economist Intelligence Unit said China's overall export recovery in December is likely due in part to a low base of comparison from the year before.

"It was around this time last year when we first started to see the impact of both the trade war and the global electronics slowdown bite into China's trade data," he added.

While shipments to Europe and Southeast Asia are up, Marro said these markets cannot fully replace the US.

"However, China's efforts to pivot towards alternative sources of demand, as a cushion to lost US market access, may be starting to pay off," he said, adding that growth in shipments to Vietnam outperformed every other major export market.

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China trade surplus with US dropped 8.5% to $296 bn in 2019
Beijing (AFP) Jan 14, 2020
China's trade surplus with the United States narrowed last year as the world's two biggest economies exchanged punitive tariffs in a bruising trade war, data showed Tuesday, just as the two prepare to sign a deal dialling down tensions. The huge difference in trade traffic is a key bone of contention for Donald Trump in a long-running stand-off that has seen him impose tariffs on goods worth hundreds of billions of dollars, triggering retaliation from Beijing and jolting the global economy. Chin ... read more