Washington and Beijing remain on course to sign their partial new trade deal next month, a top White House advisor said Tuesday. The two sides earlier this month announced a “Phase One” deal in their nearly two-year trade confrontation, with Washington canceling and reducing some tariffs in exchange for Chinese pledges to increase purchases of US exports and adopt trade reforms.
The text of the agreement has not yet been made public pending legal and translation reviews, US officials say, and details remain scant. “We should be able to get it signed in January certainly,” Peter Navarro, head of a White House office on trade and manufacturing, told CNBC. “Let’s see what happens.”
“We’re just waiting for the Chinese translation of the 86-page agreement.” Word of the deal, and the de-escalation of the trade conflict, has driven a Wall Street rally this month.
US and Chinese officials said the agreement includes protections for intellectual property, food and farm goods, financial services and foreign exchange, and a provision for dispute resolution. Other apparent US-China agreements have evaporated before, but US officials have said this time both sides are really on the same page.
Source: Financial Express
