Last Monday, US President Donald Trump said that his country's bill that showed support for Hong Kong protestors may jeopardize the US-China trade deal. A report indicated that he claimed to agree to the terms of lowering tariff rates for Chinese products into the US, but this Tuesday, he denied these allegations.
According to Business Times, Trump said in a statement to reporters that the law "doesn't make it better, but we'll see what happens," as he referred to the effect thereof to the US-China trade deal. He also did not hint on when phase one of the trade war would be finalized.
The report indicated that the capitals of the US and China, Washington and Beijing, have yet to finalize the terms and conditions for phase one of the trade deal. Last October, it was announced that the two countries would enter its second year of negotiations with unresolved tariff rates adversely affecting the global economy.
According to Trump, the Chinese government continues to negotiate with the US. He claimed that the US is happy that China still continues to negotiate with the US and that there are no assurances that both countries would agree to the terms.
Following Trump's statement, the site Axios reported that the US signing of the bill has caused problems to the US-China trade deal. However, White House adviser Kellyanne Conway told reported that the deal was not stalled and that the agreement may possibly be signed only by next year.
US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross then said during a television interview that a 15 percent US tariff rate amounting to US$156 billion worth of Chinese imports may be imposed by December 15, 2019. He also claimed that the date was the natural deadline and that China was running out of time to prevent the imposition by failing to agree to the trade deal terms and conditions.
According to the New York Times, Trump has not abandoned his confrontational approach to the US-China trade deal. The report indicated that Trump was also set on imposing tariff duties on French, Brazilian, and Argentinian goods such as tech and steel taxes as well. The report also claimed that Trump warned that the tariff rates would apply to all those engaged with imports to the United States and that no country is safe from its coverage.
Trump also denied allegations that he has finally agreed to mitigate the tariff rates indicated in the US-China phase one trade deal. He blew off concerns that he was imposing a tariff rollback in global markets and claimed that he is not under any deadline to make such impositions.
