Senior US and Chinese officials will revise the implementation of the phase-one trade deal. Allegedly, China, battered by the global coronavirus recession, was unable to fulfill its obligations on the deal and meet its first-year goal. The high-level talks led by US trade representative Robert Lighthizer, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, and other senior officials were scheduled to take place via video conference but they were canceled.
Six months have passed since the signing of the phase-one trade deal. During this time, China has violated its obligations several times. It curtailed freedoms in the former British colony of Hong Kong. Moreover, the Trump administration has stepped up its campaign against China accusing it of spreading the deadly coronavirus infection. Some economists were not surprised by the decision of the US government to hold trade talks and revise the preliminary results of the deal. A few days before the video conference, the top White House economic adviser, Larry Kudlow, claimed that preparations for the trade talks were going well and the parties planned to conduct a detailed overview of the phase-one trade deal. Apparently, after having reviewed the current results, the US was rather disappointed.
"We encourage China to fulfill their obligations in the phase one China deal and to fulfill their end of the agreement," White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said. Meanwhile, the tensions between the two countries are heating up, especially after Trump threatened to ban the Chinese-owned video app TikTok and WeChat across the US due to the national security concerns. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo recently suggested that Washington could impose similar bans on other Chinese companies.
