China buying more US-made goods, Washington says

​Beijing is ramping up purchases of American goods, US President Donald Trump and his Treasury secretary said, underscoring improving trade ties between the world’s largest economies.

Addressing a trade imbalance with China has long been a Trump priority, and Beijing offered to increase imports of American commodities in order to lower tensions. The rapprochement highlights the “remarkably strong year of diplomacy” that Beijing has had, a leading expert argued in Foreign Affairs.

While at the start of his second term Trump vowed to upend ties with China, Beijing’s threats — notably on rare earths exports — have shifted the White House’s position. Now China is pushing for a new equilibrium, one based “on Beijing’s, rather than Washington’s, terms,” Jonathan Czin wrote.