News / Foreign Policy / China

Trump says he and China’s Xi will sign phase one trade deal

Tuesday, 24 December 2019 7:08 PM [ Last Update: Tuesday, 24 December 2019 7:30 PM ]

This image taken on April 06, 2017 US President Donald Trump (R) welcomes Chinese President Xi Jinping (L) to the Mar-a-Lago estate in West Palm Beach, Florida. US President Donald Trump said on December 20, 2019. (Photo by AFP)

US President Donald Trump says he and Chinese President Xi Jinping will have a signing ceremony to sign the first phase of a trade deal agreed to this month.

"We will be having a signing ceremony, yes," Trump told reporters in Palm Beach, Florida on Tuesday.

"We will ultimately, yes, when we get together. And we'll be having a quicker signing because we want to get it done. The deal is done, it's just being translated right now," he added.

US and China announce ‘phase one’ trade agreement

The United States and China have announced a “Phase one” trade agreement.

US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said earlier this month that representatives from both countries would sign the so-called phase one trade deal in the first week of January.

Beijing has not yet confirmed specific components of the deal that were released by US officials. A spokesman for China's Commerce Ministry said last week the details would be made public after the official signing.

''When we get together, we will do. But we'll have a quicker signing because we want to get it done. The deal is done. It's just being translated right now. Okay? Thank you", Trump told reporters.

Critics say the deal falls well short of the demands Trump issued when he launched a trade war against Beijing 17 months ago.

In a sign that tensions remain high between the two countries, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said the United States had seriously damaged trust between the countries.

For more than two months, US and Chinese negotiators have been attempting to strike a limited truce in their trade conflict, with a deal mainly involving large-scale Chinese purchases of US farm goods and some additional measures on currency and intellectual property.

Completion of a phase one deal between the world’s two biggest economies had been initially expected in November.

Trade negotiators from both sides have failed to break a deadlock over core issues of concern, with rising bilateral tensions over geopolitical issues such as the anti-government protests in Hong Kong.

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