Donald Trump says he is ‘not interested’ in China trade deal renegotiation
- The US president argues Chinese negotiators would only want any changes to benefit their side
- ‘Let’s see if they live up to the deal that they signed,’ Trump adds
Asked at a White House briefing about a report by “the South China Morning Post, the Beijing newspaper” that “China would like to reopen negotiations on the trade deal”, Trump said: “Not even a little bit, no. I’m not interested.”
“We signed a deal. I had heard that too, they’d like to reopen the trade talks to make it a better deal for them,” Trump said. “China’s been taking advantage of the United States for many, many years, for decades, because we had people at this position right here where I’m standing, sitting right in that office the Oval Office, that allowed that to happen.
“Let’s see if they live up to the deal that they signed,” he added.
Reuters journalist Steve Holland, the White House reporter who asked the question later confirmed to the Post that he was referring to a news report by Global Times, a tabloid controlled by China’s central government with English- and Chinese-language editions.
The Global Times report, citing “sources close to the Chinese government”, claimed that “more hawkish voices have emerged within China on the phase one trade deal with Washington, with some calling for new negotiations and a tit-for-tat approach on spiralling trade issues”.
The “phase one” trade deal that Washington and Beijing reached ended threatened tariffs on around US$155 billion worth of Chinese imports that were set to take effect at the end of 2019. It also halved tariffs to 7.5 per cent on another US$120 billion in goods. But it kept in place the 25 per cent import taxes on US$250 billion worth of Chinese products.
In exchange, China pledged to buy, over two years, at least US$200 billion more in American goods and services than it did in 2017, including about US$40 billion in agricultural goods.
Trump has threatened to withdraw from the agreement if China fails to live up to its commitment over the next two years.
Additional reporting by Owen Churchill
