US President Trump and China’s chief negotiator, Liu He, signed Phase 1 of a trade agreement. This agreement will ease some US sanctions on China, and Beijing will step up its purchases of US farm products and other goods. Boeing President and CEO Dave Calhoun issued the following statement regarding the announcement today of the US-China trade deal:

“Boeing has a long-standing partnership with China that spans nearly 50 years. We’re proud that Boeing airplanes will continue to be a part of this valued relationship, one that has fueled aerospace innovation and sustained manufacturing jobs.

“Boeing applauds Presidents Trump and Xi as well as Vice Premier Liu, Secretary Mnuchin and Ambassador Lighthizer for their leadership in building a fair and mutually-beneficial trading relationship between the United States and China.”

Under this initial phase, the US administration drops plans to impose tariffs on an additional $160 billion in Chinese imports. It also halved existing tariffs on $110 billion of goods from China.

For its part, China agreed to buy $40 billion a year in US farm products. China has never imported more than $26 billion a year in US agricultural products. The deal does, however, leave in place tariffs on about $360 billion in Chinese imports.

Asian stock markets are mostly lower today, Wednesday, as investors awaited the signing of the deal. It was reported by Bloomberg that despite the signing of the trade deal, tariffs on billions of dollars of Chinese goods are likely to remain in place until after the US presidential election in November.

Ahead of the Phase One Trade Deal signing, Delta Air Lines stocks surged after reporting its fourth-quarter profit topped estimates as it gained customers from other airlines who were hampered by cancellations of the 737 Max.