'Progress!': Trump gives update on US-China trade deal
Trump administration adviser, China expert and Hudson Institute director of Chinese strategy Michael Pillsbury says he thinks the Chinese feel President Trump ‘got the best of them’ in ‘phase one’ of the trade deal.
President Trump said Friday that the U.S. and China are making progress in their efforts to reach a comprehensive trade deal after he had a "very good talk" with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
"Had a very good talk with President Xi of China concerning our giant Trade Deal. China has already started large scale [purchases] of agricultural product [and] more. Formal signing being arranged. Also talked about North Korea, where we are working with China [and] Hong Kong (progress!)," the president tweeted.
His tweet came after the two countries agreed to a "Phase One" trade deal on Dec. 13 that would reduce tariffs on some Chinese goods and could be a boon to American farmers who have been hard hit by the 19-month trade war.
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Phase One includes an agreement from China to buy $50 billion worth of U.S. agricultural products, Trump said during a Friday press briefing. But other sources say the number could be lower at around $32 billion over two years.
Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said the two countries could sign the first phase of the deal as soon as January.
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"It’s just going through what I would consider to be a technical, legal scrub, and we’ll be releasing the document and signing it in the beginning of January," Mnuchin told reporters Thursday.
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