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US President Donald Trump ruled out on Monday a renegotiation of the pact signed with China in January to appease the trade war between the two world powers.
“I’m not interested in that. Not even a little bit, “Trump told reporters when asked about reports that Beijing was seeking to reopen the talks.
“Let’s see if they are up to the agreement they signed,” added the president at a press conference at the White House.
Washington and Beijing reached a partial trade deal in January, and on Friday Deputy Prime Minister Liu He, who led the China negotiations, spoke by phone with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, and said that both parties agreed to implement the first phase of the deal.
As negotiated, the Trump government agreed to postpone any further tariff increases, as China promised to increase its purchases of US products by 2 billion dollars over 2 years compared to the 2017 level.
The confirmation of the trade deal comes amid criticism from the United States of China’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic and Trump’s threats of new tariffs.
“The coronavirus was created in Wuhan”
Washington accuses Beijing of taking too long to warn the world about covid-19, and therefore considers the Asian giant “responsible” for the virus spreading across the planet to trigger a vast economic crisis.
The head of US diplomacy, Mike Pompeo, has even said that the coronavirus pandemic probably originated in a Chinese laboratory, but acknowledged that it was not certain.
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