President Trump discounts chances of new China trade
 |
| President Trump discounts chances of new China trade |
President Donald Trump on Friday downplayed the chances of a new China trade deal as he accursed that country’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
Trump told reporters on Air Force One the U.S. relationship with China has been “severely damaged.” He added that he has “other things in mind” than a second trade agreement, known as phase two, with the world’s second-largest economy.
“They could have stopped the plague., they could have stopped it, they didn’t stop it,” he said, referring to the COVID-19, which started in China before spreading globally. “They stopped it from going into the remaining portions of China from Wuhan province. They could have stopped the plague, they didn’t.”
Trump signed a phase one trade deal with China in January that focused on increasing U.S. exports of agricultural, energy and other products. The president had hoped the deal would boost his re-election bid, but China has said recently it will struggle to complete its purchase requirements due to the COVID-19.
In June, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer told the House Ways and Means Committee that he was “very happy” with China’s implementation of the phase one deal, but logistical problems created by the coronavirus pandemic had delayed phase two negotiations.
“My guess is we're still a few months away before we'll start that,” Lighthizer said.
 |
| Trump has also stepped up his criticism of China |
The president has also stepped up his criticism of China’s handling of the pandemic as coronavirus cases wave in the U.S. and he trails former Vice President Joe Biden in most swing states. In recent weeks, Trump has invoked the racial epithet “kung flu” to describe the coronavirus pandemic. Cabinet officials like Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have called it the “Wuhan virus,” a reference to the province where the pandemic is thought to have originated.
Although Trump claims to have achieved more than any president in negotiations with China, Biden argues that the tariffs Trump has unilaterally imposed on more than $350 billion worth of Chinese goods have inflicted pain at home without getting much in exchange.
“Trump’s go-it-alone trade war and empty ‘phase one’ deal with China has been an unmitigated disaster, inflicting maximum pain on American workers and farmers, while doing nothing to curb Beijing’s trade abuses,” the Biden campaign said this week on its website.
The rising tensions between the United States and China will continue to focus attention on whether either side will pull out of the deal, potentially setting the stage for Trump to impose more tariffs on Chinese goods.