The Trump-Xi phase one trade deal that paused Trump's trade war against China isn't dead. But phase two likely is.
President Donald Trump on Friday brushed aside any hope for new trade talks with China as a follow-up to the phase one deal signed January 15 before the November 3 general election. Consumed by his faltering reelection campaign, Trump on Friday said he's not even thinking about phase two trade deal because he has more important things on his mind.
Trump is widely expected to lose his reelection bid to Joe Biden based on an avalanche of poll results. He also admitted the political and economic relationship between the United States and China has been "severely damaged" by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Back in May, Trump said he was "very torn" about whether to scrap phase one. On the other hand, other Trump officials claim both countries are still expected to honor the deal.
Trump said the phase one trade deal is no longer a priority for him. Instead, Trump threatened punitive measures against China for its initial and, according to Trump, bungled response to the pandemic.
Later that month, however, China said it will continue abiding by its commitments to the phase one China-U.S. economic and trade agreement that paused Trump's trade war despite ramped-up political and trade provocations by the Trump administration.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said during the third session of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC) on June 22 China will work with the U.S. to implement phase one. Li also said China will continue to boost economic and trade cooperation with other countries.
Zhang Yesui, spokesperson for the 13th NPC, said a stable and growing relationship between China and the U.S. is in the best interests of both countries. The centerpiece of the phase one deal is China's pledge to buy $200 billion worth of U.S. goods and services.
Trump keeps repeatedly criticizing China for unleashing COVID-19 onto the world. As part of his campaign rhetoric, Trump has kept referring to COVID-19 as the "China Virus," the "China Flu" and "Kung Flu." He constantly blames China for not stopping the spread of COVID-19.
"They could have stopped the plague," Trump said Friday. "They could have stopped it. They didn't stop it."
American political pundits assert Trump's blame China game is intended to deflect attention away from his disastrous mishandling of the U.S. response to the raging pandemic.
His lack of leadership --and refusal to admit to the severity of the pandemic -- is a major reason why the U.S. still leads the world in COVID-19 cases and deaths. The U.S. has to contend with 3.3 million confirmed cases and 136,000 deaths, as of Saturday morning.
