Trump says first phase of trade deal with China is in 'final throes'

The United States President Donald Trump said on November 26 that China and US are close to reaching an agreement on the first phase of a trade deal. After top negotiators from the two countries spoke on telephone and agreed to keep working on the remaining issues, Trump said that Washington was in the 'final throes' of work on a deal that would finally put an end to a 16-month trade war which was also regarded as the greatest trade war in the history. Apart from the heavy tariffs, the potential sore point for China is Washington's support for protesters in Hong Kong. 

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China had summoned the US Ambassador Terry Branstad to protest the passage in the US Congress of the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, which according to China, interferes in the country's internal affairs. Trump told the reporters at the White House that one of the most important deals in trade with Beijing is at the final stages, however, the US government want it to go well with Hong Kong at the same time. Trump further said that he shares a 'very good' relationship with the President of China, Xi Jinping and expected him to ensure a positive outcome from the months-long unrest in Hong Kong where recently, the pro-democracy parties won nearly 90 per cent of 452 district council seats. 

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Trump's comments lifted Wall Street

The optimistic comments by Trump on the trade pact with China have lifted markets. Nearly three major indexes of the Wall Street hit an all-time high on November 26. The US President's remarks were then followed by phonecall between US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin with Chinese Vice Premier Liu as revealed by the Chinese Commerce Ministry. The negotiators discussed the core issues which are related to the phase-one deal and reportedly reached a 'common understanding on resolving relevant problems'. Initially, the completion of the first stage of the deal was expected in November, however, as per reports, some White House sources said that it could now slide into 2020 considering China's pressure to impose more extensive tariff rollbacks. 

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(With agency inputs)