Trump Says ‘Formal Signing’ of China Trade Pact Is Being Arranged
U.S. and China are arranging the formal signing of the first phase of a broader trade deal.
(Bloomberg) -- The U.S. and China are arranging the formal signing of the first phase of a broader trade deal between the world’s two biggest economies, President Donald Trump said after discussions between him and his counterpart, Xi Jinping.
“Had a very good talk with President Xi of China concerning our giant Trade Deal. China has already started large scale purchases of agricultural product & more. Formal signing being arranged,” Trump said in a tweet Friday, adding they also discussed North Korea and Hong Kong. The call took place this morning, the White House said.
Chinese President Xi said Friday that the phase-one deal between the two nations benefits both sides and the whole world, according to Chinese state news agency Xinhua. In the phone conversation with Trump, Xi said they reached the agreement on the basis of the principle of equality and mutual respect, according to the report. The wording was important as Chinese officials had set having an equal agreement as a benchmark.
The pact, announced on Dec. 13, saw Trump suspend plans for new import taxes on Chinese products and reduce some existing ones. It hinges on the Asian nation increasing purchases of American farm goods such as soybeans and pork, and making new commitments on intellectual property, forced technology transfer and currency.
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, the nation’s chief negotiator, said he expected the 86-page agreement to be signed by him and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He in early January in Washington and released publicly then. Lawyers for both sides will review the accord before signature -- a normal step in any trade negotiation -- and Lighthizer expects it will come into effect 30 days after the signing.
Trump is due to travel to Switzerland for the annual World Economic Forum meetings in Davos at the end of January. But Xi is not expected to be there, meaning the two leaders are unlikely to meet face to face until later in the year.
According to one person close to the talks, the two sides are now exchanging drafts of a Chinese translation of the agreement. That can sometimes be a contentious process in any trade talks, but the person said no major sticking points had materialized so far, meaning the two sides were on track for a signing and the release of a public text in the first half of January.
The translations of the text are what’s taking time, U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said Friday in an interview with Bloomberg Radio and Television.
“It’s time well spent,” he said. “It was a long, hard negotiation to get to this point. We want to make sure there’s no confusion going forward.”
--With assistance from David Westin and Alister Bull.
To contact the reporters on this story: Joshua Gallu in Washington at jgallu@bloomberg.net;Shawn Donnan in Washington at sdonnan@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alex Wayne at awayne3@bloomberg.net, Ana Monteiro, Scott Lanman
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