WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 09th January, 2020) Phase two of the US China trade deal may have to wait until after the 2020 presidential election to allow time to negotiate a better agreement, President Donald Trump told reporters on Thursday.
China's commerce ministry confirmed that Vice Premier Liu He will visit Washington next week to sign phase one of the trade package, which Trump said would cover about 50 percent of US objectives.
"We'll start right away negotiating phase 2. It will take a little time. I think I might want to wait to finish it until after the election because by doing that I think we can actually make a little bit better deal, maybe a lot better deal," Trump said.
The agreement to be signed next week is expected to cut tariffs and boost Chinese purchases of US farm, energy and manufactured goods while addressing some disputes over intellectual property.
Trump said phase one could be worth up to $50 billion for US exporters.
US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer has said he expects to publicly release the 86-page phase one document after it is signed.
Trump launched a trade war with China in 2018 over allegations of illegal Chinese export subsidies and the theft of intellectual property, with the goal of cutting the annual US-China trade deficit of more than $500 billion.
