US President Donald Trump has dampened hopes that the trade dispute with China could be defused quickly and sustainably. There is no agreement in the framework of the planned partial agreement with China to cancel already existing punitive tariffs, Trump said. China would like to do that. The country is more interested in an agreement than the US, Trump said.
In October, Trump announced a general agreement on a partial agreement in the trade dispute and promised to sign in mid-November. Statements from China on Thursday gave the impression that both sides had agreed to gradually withdraw existing punitive tariffs under the partial agreement.
The reduction in tariffs is "an important condition for agreement," said Beijing Ministry of Commerce spokesman Gao Feng. Later, a US government official said both countries had agreed to reduce tariffs as part of a first phase of a trade agreement. The stock markets were pleased to respond to the reports. After Trump's comments on Friday, however, the New York Stock Exchange gave up.
The trade dispute has led to a slowdown in economic growth in both countries. He also slows down the global economy. Both sides have been overpowering each other with ever new punitive tariffs, while talks are going on in parallel about a trade agreement.
Trump now demanded that the partial agreement be signed in the US. As a possible location for a joint signing with China's President Xi Jinping, he called again the rural state of Iowa. There the first primaries in the American presidential election campaign take place in February.