BEIJING, Feb. 18 (Xinhua) -- More U.S. products have a chance to be exempted from the additional tariffs China imposed in response to the U.S. Section 301 tariff measures, the Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council said Tuesday.

Starting from March 2, China's tax authority will accept applications of domestic firms for the exemption of additional tariffs imposed on some U.S. products within a certain period of time, the commission said in a statement.

China has agreed to buy hundreds of billions of dollars worth of products from the United States as part of their "phase one" trade deal.

The agreement signed Wednesday will have Beijing purchase an additional $200 billion of US goods and services over the next two years.

The increase in purchases will be compared to 2017, before the trade war started. China imported over $185 billion in total US goods and services that year.

In exchange, Washington has agreed to reduce tariffs on $120 billion in Chinese products from 15% to 7.5%.

Just a day after the United States and China signed a phase one trade deal, the US Department of Agriculture released a report that delivers another optimistic message to US farmers: Chinese demand for pork is likely to boost the US pork markets in 2020.

China will not increase its annual low-tariff import quotas for corn, wheat and rice to accommodate stepped-up purchases of farm goods from the United States, senior agriculture official Han Jun said on Tuesday, according to local media group Caixin.

The move could make it harder for Beijing to meet import commitments in a Phase 1 trade deal due to be signed next week. U.S. President Donald Trump said last month the agreement would likely double China’s $24 billion in pre-trade war purchases to $40-$50 billion annually.
 

China has not confirmed the amount.

Washington (CNN) - A new trade deal will allow US beef and natural gas exports to flow into China while opening up the US market for cooked poultry and Chinese banks, the US Commerce Secretary announced Thursday.