China is offering the United States a package of trade concessions and increased purchases of American goods aimed at cutting the trade deficit with China. The package includes elimination of Chinese tariffs already in place on US farm products including fruit, nuts, pork, wine and sorghum.

US aircraft maker Boeing would be a major beneficiary of the Chinese offer if Trump were to accept it. Boeing is the largest US exporter and already sells about a quarter of its commercial aircraft to Chinese customers.

China wants the US to set aside threats of tariffs on Chinese goods and US investment restrictions on Chinese companies. China also wants a relaxation of US export controls that ban American firms from selling certain high-technology products to China.

But getting to a reduction of the US China trade deficit on a sustainable basis would require a massive change in the composition of trade between the two countries. The United States’ two biggest exports to China are cars, aircraft and soybeans.

Agreeing to a deal focused primarily on reducing the trade deficit could also weaken America’s original tariff goal of pressuring China to end policies that it says are aimed at misappropriating US technology.