Published 12:45 IST, November 27th 2019
Trump: US in the final stage to end monthslong trade war with China
Trump stated that the US and China were close to reaching an agreement based on the first phase of a trade deal alongside showing his support for Hong Kong
US President Donald Trump stated that the United States and China were close to reaching a mutual agreement based on the first phase of a potential trade deal. Negotiators of both the countries agreed to work on the remaining key issues after holding a telephonic conversation, the US President added. Trump also added that in the midst of a trade deal with China, he was standing with the protesters in the semi-autonomous state of Hong Kong, where it wishes to see a democratic environment after months-long pro-democracy protests.
Trump wants the Hong Kong situation to improve
Trump stated that the US was in the final stages of ending a 16 months trade war with China which was one of the factors for a slump in China's profits. He further stated that their trade deal with China was one very important, but at the same time he wants the situation to improve in Hong Kong.
The US President said that he shared a good relationship with Xi Jinping and hoped that the Chinese President will ensure a democratic environment in Hong Kong, where pro-democratic parties bagged almost 90 per cent of the total 452 district council seats in the November 24 elections.
A dicy situation for China
According to reports, the phase-one of the trade deal may be completed in the month of November but experts are of the opinion that it may now be completed in 2020, keeping in mind the pressure on China for more extensive rollbacks of high tariffs imposed on them and that talks about a 15 per cent tariff that was imposed on Chinese goods worth $125 billion on September 1 and the previous 25 per cent tariffs imposed on industrial and consumer imports to the United States from China.
It is being said that by chance the phase 1 deal does not pan out before December 15, Trump will be left with the option of implementing his previous threat to sanction the 15 per cent tariffs on Chinese imports worth $160 billion dollars.
Decline in China's earnings
In an official announcement, China stated that the Chinese factories witnessed a very big fall in their profits for the first time in eight months in October 2019, stating that the profits had come down a total of 9.9 per cent to 427.56 billion Yuan(local currency) as a decline in China and immense pressures from the trade war with the US that resulted in lower earnings for the country.
(With inputs from agencies)
Updated 13:29 IST, November 27th 2019