The status of US-China trade agreement phase-one is back into question with recent comments. It’s even unsure if the negotiations could be completed within this year. December 15 is the next key date, when tariffs on around USD 156B of Chinese goods are scheduled to take effect.
According to a Bloomberg report, Chinese Vice Premier Liu He said at a dinner Wednesday night that he was “cautiously optimistic”. Zhang Yansheng, the principal researcher of China Center for International Economic Exchanges said today that the phase-one could be reached this year is there is “no disturbance”. he added, “The optimistic view is that the phase-one deal can be reached within this year, and a more pessimistic one is that the first phase will be dragged to some point next year.” But Hu Xijin, the editor of the state-backed Chinese tabloid Global Times, warned “few Chinese believe that China and the US can reach a deal soon.” He added, “China wants a deal but is prepared for the worst-case scenario, a prolonged trade war.”
On the US side, President Donald Trump complained to reporters in Texas that “I don’t think they’re stepping up to the level that I want.” White House spokesman Judd Deere said “negotiations are continuing and progress is being made on the text of the phase-one agreement”, without further elaboration.
