US President Donald Trump has said he might cut ties with China over its handling of the coronavirus pandemic, indicating further deterioration of his relationship with the world’s second-largest economy.

Trump has long accused China of concealing the true scale of the outbreak, which first appeared in China’s Hubei province in December 2019. The novel coronavirus has killed over 300,000 people worldwide.

In an interview with Fox Business broadcast on Thursday, Trump was asked about how the US might respond to China. “There are many things we could do. We could do things. We could cut off the whole relationship,” he said.

“Now, if you did, what would happen? You’d save $500 billion if you cut off the whole relationship,” Trump said when interviewed on Wednesday, referring to the annual US imports from China which he refers to as lost money.

Read more: Does US-China coronavirus blame game threaten scientific investigation?

Tensions have been simmering for months between Washington and Beijing over the origins of the coronavirus. China has insisted it has been open and transparent in its approach. “They could have stopped it. They could have stopped it in China where it came from. But it didn’t happen that way,” Trump said.

The US president has repeatedly touted his relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping, but on Thursday he said he was in no mood for talks with his counterpart.

“I have a very good relationship (with Xi), but I just — right now I don’t want to speak to him,” Trump said. “I’m very disappointed in China. I will tell you that right now.”

US-China trade deal

Trump also said the pandemic also cast a pall over the US-China trade deal which he had previously hailed as a major achievement.

Read more: US chief diplomat Pompeo backs coronavirus Wuhan lab claims

“So, I make a great trade deal and now I say this doesn’t feel the same to me. The ink was barely dry, and the plague came over. And it doesn’t feel the same to me,” he said.

In a trade deal signed in January, Beijing had pledged to buy at least $250 billion in additional US goods and services over two years, while Washington had agreed to roll back tariffs on Chinese goods in stages.

adi/stb (Reuters, AFP)

Source: https://www.dw.com/en/us-could-cut-ties-with-china-over-coronavirus-save-500-billion-trump/a-53444717

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The post Trump signs US-Mexico-Canada trade agreement first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

President Trump signed the historic United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, replacing the Clinton-era North American Free Trade Agreement that he called a “disaster.”

The USMCA, which is the biggest trade deal of all-time, covers more than $1.3 trillion of commerce and is the second major trade deal secured by the Trump administration this year. The agreement has already been ratified by Mexico, but not yet by Canada.

“You’re going to see more jobs all across the economy, in the automobile sector, in the agricultural sector and of course in the energy sector as well,” Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette told FOX Business’ Maria Bartiromo on Wednesday.

USMCA IS ‘GOLD STANDARD FOR DIGITAL TRADE’: TRADE CHIEF ROBERT LIGHTHIZER

The USMCA requires 75 percent of automobile components be manufactured in the United States, Canada or Mexico in order to avoid tariffs. By 2023, some 40 to 45 percent of automobile parts must be made by workers who earn at least $16 an hour.

President Donald Trump, joined by from left, Senior adviser to the President, Ivanka Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of Calif., and others, signs a new North American trade agreement with Canada and Mexico, during an event at the White House, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)

President Donald Trump speaks during an event at the White House to sign a new North American trade agreement with Canada and Mexico, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2020, in Washington. Vice President Mike Pence is left. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

President Donald Trump speaks during an event at the White House to sign a new North American trade agreement with Canada and Mexico, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2020, in Washington. Vice President Mike Pence is left and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer is right. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

President Donald Trump, joined by from left, Senior adviser to the President, Jared Kushner, Vice President Mike Pence, House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of Calif., and others, stands after signing a new North American trade agreement with Canada and Mexico, during an event at the White House, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)

President Donald Trump pumps his fist after signing a new North American trade agreement with Canada and Mexico, during an event at the White House, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

President Donald Trump arrives at an event with Vice President Mike Pence and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer at the White House to sign a new North American trade agreement with Canada and Mexico, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

The agreement is expected to create 80,000 new jobs tied to the auto industry and bring in up to $30 billion of new investment in the sector. The pact will also open new markets for American wheat, poultry, and eggs, among other things.

“This is a colossal victory for our farmers and ranchers,” Trump said at the signing ceremony. “Everybody said this was a deal that could not be done,” he added, “but we got it done.”

Once fully implemented, the USMCA is expected to lift U.S. gross domestic product by as many as 1.2 percentage points and create up to 589,000 jobs, according to the International Trade Commission.

After the trade deal was approved by the Senate on Jan. 16, by a vote of 89 to 10, Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, hailed it as a “major achievement for President Trump and a very big win for the American people.”

The signing of the USMCA comes nearly two weeks after Trump inked an initial trade deal with China. Combined, the two agreements encompass more than $2 trillion worth of trade and could add as much as 1.7 percentage points to U.S. economic growth. The U.S. economy expanded at a 2.1 percent pace in the three months through September.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ON FOX BUSINESS

“We’re restoring America’s industrial might like never before,” Trump declared at a campaign rally in Wildwood, N.J., on Tuesday evening. “They’re all coming back. They want to be where the action is.”

The post Trump signs USMCA, paving way for job market boom first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

President Trump signed a landmark trade agreement with China, heralding a period of detente in a trade war between the world’s two largest economies fueled by decades of complaints that Beijing was manipulating its currency and stealing trade secrets from American firms.

The pact, detailed in a 94-page document, is only the initial phase of a broader deal that Trump has said may come in as many as three sections.

“Together, we are righting the wrongs of the past,” Trump said in a pomp-filled signing ceremony. “It doesn’t get any bigger than this.”

WHY ‘PHASE ONE’ CHINA TRADE DEAL DOESN’T NEED CONGRESSIONAL APPROVAL, UNLIKE USMCA

The agreement will help grow the U.S. economy in 2020 and 2021 by “at least a half a point of additional GDP” and “probably translate into another million jobs on top of what we’ve already done,” Larry Kudlow, director of the National Economic Council, told FOX News’ “America’s Newsroom” on Wednesday.

President Trump signs a trade agreement with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, in the East Room of the White House, Wednesday. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

During two years of negotiation, there were occasional setbacks because “on some issues, we don’t see eye to eye,” noted Liu He, the Chinese vice premier who represented President Xi Jinping at the signing, but “our economic teams didn’t give up.”

The agreement, which was first reported on Dec. 12, includes commitments from Beijing to halt intellectual property theft, refrain from currency manipulation, cooperate in financial services and purchase an additional $200 billion of U.S. products over the next two years.

STOCKS CELEBRATE PHASE ONE TRADE DEAL WITH RECORD HIGHS

The purchases will include up to $50 billion of U.S. agriculture, according to Trump and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, $40 billion of which has been confirmed by Chinese sources. China will also buy $40 billion in services, $50 billion in energy and $75 billion to $80 billion worth of manufacturing, the sources said.

Trump acknowledges Vice President Mike Pence, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Lighthizer says the deal is “fully enforceable” if Beijing fails to live up to its end of the agreement, and the pact includes mechanisms for handling violations of intellectual property rights. Its dispute-resolution process will allow either side to appeal if it believes the other is “not acting in accordance” with the agreement.

The document specifies that both China and the U.S. “shall ensure fair and equitable market access” for businesses that depend on the safety of trade secrets. Specific measures that will protect pharmaceutical firms’ intellectual property, govern patents, block counterfeiting on e-commerce platforms and prevent exports of brand-name knockoffs are detailed.

THE US IS NOW IN A PRIME POSITION TO MEET CHINA’S RAVENOUS ENERGY NEEDS

In return, the U.S. will reduce tariffs on some products made in China, but keep duties the White House has imposed on $375 billion worth of merchandise. Following the phase-one signing, $250 billion of Chinese imports will still be subject to a 25 percent tariff and $125 billion of Chinese goods will be under a 7.5 percent levy.

“These tariffs will stay in place until there is a phase two,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told FOX Business’ Lou Dobbs. “If the president gets a phase two quickly, he’ll consider releasing tariffs as part of phase two. If not, there won’t be any tariff relief. It has nothing to do with the election or anything else. There’s no secret agreement.”

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ON FOX BUSINESS

Trump says phase two negotiations will begin “immediately,” though he pointed out Wednesday that China is “doing many more things in phase one than anyone thought possible.”

Source: https://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/us-china-sign-historic-trade-deal

The post US, China sign historic phase one trade deal first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

The biggest trade deal of all time, the pact encompasses more than $1.3 trillion of commerce. While winning enough votes to pass in the Republican-led Senate was anticlimactic after months of modifications by the Democratically-controlled House, it delivers on Trump’s 2016 campaign promise to overhaul the Clinton-era North American Free Trade Agreement that he called a “disaster.”

The vote was 89 senators in favor, with 10 opposed.

A day earlier, the president and a Chinese official signed an initial trade accord between their countries, cooling tensions in a nearly two-year trade war.

“Adding together USMCA and the China deal, that’s over $2 trillion of trade,” Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross told FOX Business’ Maria Bartiromo on Thursday. “That’s an enormous number.”

THE 10 SENATORS WHO VOTED AGAINST USMCA

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., with Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, and other senator. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

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The USMCA, which has already been ratified by Mexico but not by Canada, requires 75 percent of automobile components be manufactured in the United States, Canada and Mexico in order to avoid tariffs. By 2023, some 40 to 45 percent of automobile parts must be made by workers who earn at least $16 an hour.

US, CHINA SIGN HISTORIC PHASE ONE TRADE DEAL

The pact is expected to create 80,000 new jobs tied to the auto industry and bring in up to $30 billion of new investment in the sector. The USMCA will also provide new access to American wheat, poultry and eggs, among other things.

“This is a major achievement for President Trump and a very big win for the American people,” said Sen. Charles Grassley, chairman of the finance committee. “I look forward to signing this bill and sending it to the president’s desk.”

When it’s all said and done, the trade pact could boost U.S. gross domestic product by up to 1.2 percentage points and create as many as 589,000 jobs, according to the International Trade Commission.

Senate Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer of N.Y. voted no. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

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Coupled with the 0.5 percentage-point boost expected from Wednesday’s passage of the phase one trade deal with China, U.S. gross domestic product may come close to the 4 percent growth that Trump suggested was possible during his 2016 presidential campaign.

Trump’s economy has topped that mark once already. U.S. GDP growth hit 4.2 percent in the second quarter of 2018, receiving a tailwind from the passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which lowered the top corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent and cut taxes for many Americans. The U.S. economy grew at a 2.1 percent pace in the third quarter of 2019, the most recent period for which figures were available.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ON FOX BUSINESS

“We have what is really the absolute gold standard on digital trade and financial services, stuff that has never been done before,” U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer told FOX Business’ Maria Bartiromo in December, adding that the USMCA will be the “template” for new trade agreements going forward.

Source: https://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/usmca-thumbs-up-hands-trump-victory

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FILE PHOTO: Containers are seen at the Yangshan Deep Water Port in Shanghai, China August 6, 2019. (Photo: Reuters)

China’s Vice Premier Liu He, head of the country’s negotiation team in Sino-US trade talks, will sign a Phase 1 deal in Washington next week, the commerce ministry said on Thursday.

Liu will visit Washington on Jan. 13-15, said Gao Feng, a spokesman at the commerce ministry.

Negotiating teams from both sides remain in close communication on the particular arrangements of the signing, Gao told reporters at a regular briefing.

US President Donald Trump said on Dec. 31 that the Phase 1 deal with China would be signed on Jan. 15 at the White House. Trump also said he would sign the deal with high-level representatives of China, and that he would later travel to Beijing to begin talks on the next phase.

The Phase 1 deal reached last month is expected to cut tariffs and boost Chinese purchases of US farm, energy, and manufactured goods while addressing some disputes over intellectual property.

But no version of the text has been made public, and Chinese officials have yet to publicly commit to key points such as increasing imports of US goods and services by $200 billion over two years.

The United States launched a trade war against Beijing a year and a half ago over allegations of unfair trade practices, such as theft of US intellectual property and subsidies that unfairly benefit Chinese state-owned companies.

Source: https://www.indiatoday.in/world/story/china-s-to-sign-us-trade-deal-in-washington-next-week-1635300-2020-01-09

The post China’s to sign US trade deal in Washington next week first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

The post U.S. Reaches In-Principle China Trade Deal, Awaits Trump Signoff first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

The post Hong Kong just entered a recession. Experts say economy will ‘remain weak’ amid protests, trade war first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

President Trump, speaking at the White House, said: “We’ve come to a very substantial phase one deal”…adding it will take three to five weeks to get written. The deal includes intellectual property, financial services and $40-$50 billion related to agriculture products. It is unclear what the U.S will give up in return and a comprehensive trade deal will have two or three phases.

The U.S. will not be raising tariffs on the Chinese next week to the 30 percent level as part of this agreement.

U.S. stocks spiked to the highs of the session, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising by nearly 500 points, before pulling back slightly at the close. The move signals the third major trade deal President Trump has sealed.

President Trump signaled this morning that talks were heading in the right direction after a week of trading barbs with the Chinese.

“Good things are happening at China Trade Talk Meeting. Warmer feelings than in recent past, more like the Old Days,” he tweeted.

Bloomberg was first to report that some type of deal was in place.

Source: https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/us-china-reach-partial-trade-deal-reports

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