by Itunuoluwa Adebo

The United States and China have agreed to take action by mid-July to increase access for US. financial firms and expand trade in beef and chicken as part of Washington’s drive to cut its trade deficit with Beijing.

The deals are the first results of 100 days of trade talks that began with a meeting between President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping that proved more friendly than had been expected after last year’s US presidential campaign.

“U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said at media briefing in Washington “This will help us to bring down the deficit for sure.”

U.S. Treasury figures show that the United States ran a trade deficit of $347 billion with China last year,

By July 16, the 100th day after the leaders’ meeting, China agreed to issue guidelines that would allow US-owned card payment services “to begin the licensing process” in a sector where China’s UnionPay system has had a near monopoly.

China will also allow U.S. imports of beef no later than July 16, and the United States will issue a proposed rule to allow Chinese cooked poultry to enter U.S. markets.

Foreign-owned firms will also be able to provide credit rating services in China.

“We believe that Sino-U.S. economic cooperation is the trend of the times… We will continue to move forward,” Chinese Vice Finance Minister Zhu Guangyao told a Beijing media briefing.