President Donald Trump delayed the 90-day tariff truce deadline with China after a “very productive” extended round of trade talks in D.C.
“I am pleased to report that the U.S. has made substantial progress in our trade talks with China,” President Trump began in a late Sunday statement. He specified the progress came, “on important structural issues including intellectual property protection, technology transfer, agriculture, services, currency, and many other issues”:
I am pleased to report that the U.S. has made substantial progress in our trade talks with China on important structural issues including intellectual property protection, technology transfer, agriculture, services, currency, and many other issues. As a result of these very……
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 24, 2019
….productive talks, I will be delaying the U.S. increase in tariffs now scheduled for March 1. Assuming both sides make additional progress, we will be planning a Summit for President Xi and myself, at Mar-a-Lago, to conclude an agreement. A very good weekend for U.S. & China!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 24, 2019
“As a result of these very…productive talks, I will be delaying the U.S. increase in tariffs now scheduled for March 1,” the president then revealed. “Assuming both sides make additional progress, we will be planning a Summit for President Xi [Jinping] and myself, at Mar-a-Lago, to conclude an agreement. A very good weekend for U.S. & China!”
President Trump and Chinese President Xi agreed to a 90-day truce on tariff increases December 1 at the G20 Summit Argentina. During that period they purposed to hold focused trade talks in pursuit of a deal. President Trump has been adamant
Trump told reporters at the top of a meeting with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, also present in his capacity as special envoy of president Xi, in the Oval Office Friday that he would “probably” meet with President Xi Jinping at Mar-a-Lago in March to finalize the “finer points” of a trade agreement.
President Trump further expressed Friday his belief that the U.S. and China will come to a trade agreement, “Speaking for the United States, I would say it’s probably more likely that a deal does happen.” He added, “Both parties want to make it a meaningful deal.”
Agriculture Sec. Sonny Perdue announced Friday that during Friday trade talks in the Oval Office Chinese officials agreed to resume increased volume of soybeans purchases, increasing purchases by ten million metric tons.
Michelle Moons is a White House Correspondent for Breitbart News — follow on Twitter @MichelleDiana and Facebook
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