International Business: Trump won't meet Xi before trade deadline - Gulf Digital News

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said he did not plan to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping before a March 1 deadline set by the two countries to achieve a trade deal.

Asked during an event in the Oval Office whether there would be a meeting before the deadline, Trump said: "No."

When asked whether there would be a meeting in the next month or so, Trump said: "Not yet. Maybe. Probably too soon. Probably too soon."

The remarks confirmed comments from administration officials who said the two men were unlikely to meet before the deadline, dampening hopes of a quick trade pact and sparking a drop in US stock markets.

Late last year during a dinner between

Trump and Xi in Argentina, the two men agreed to take a 90-day hiatus in their trade war to give their teams time to negotiate an agreement.

If the talks do not succeed, Trump has threatened to increase US tariffs on Chinese imports. Another round of talks is scheduled for next week in Beijing.

Trump, who is proud of having a warm relationship with Xi, said last week he would meet him again to hammer out a final deal, after Chinese Vice Premier Liu He presented Xi's invitation at the White House.

A source briefed on the talks said that Trump's advisers were concerned that accepting a meeting invitation at this stage would raise unfounded expectations for a quick deal and erode US leverage in the talks, where the two sides remain far apart on core structural intellectual property issues. "There was concern about the downside for markets in particular if they don't reach a deal," the source said.

The president is scheduled to travel to Asia at the end of this month for a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Vietnam, and some had speculated that he could meet Xi on the same trip. Trump had indicated that was one option, or Xi could come to the US.

White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said that the leaders of the two economic superpowers could still meet at a later date.

"At some point the two presidents will meet, that is what Mr Trump has been saying. But that is off in the distance still at the moment," he said.

The news prompted a sharp selloff in US stocks, dashing the optimism that had been building that the countries were progressing towards a deal before tariffs on Chinese imports rise to 25 per cent after the March 1 deadline.

"I could see where that would impact the markets because obviously we had a lift in the month of January from optimism surrounding these trade talks," said Peter Jankovskis, co-chief investment officer at OakBrook Investments in Lisle, Illinois.

US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin are leaving on Monday for the next round of talks in China, one administration official said. "They're hoping for more success," he said.

The US is pressing China to make major reforms, including on structural issues related to how it treats US companies doing business there. Washington accuses China of stealing US intellectual property and forcing American businesses to share their technology with Chinese companies. China denies the accusations.

Trump said in his State of the Union address that any new trade deal with Beijing "must include real, structural change to end unfair trade practices."

Let's block ads! (Why?)

via World - World Indonesia - Google News http://bit.ly/2I0WvZi