WASHINGTON, Oct 31 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Leaders from the United States and China encountered a new obstacle in their struggle to end a damaging trade war, when the summit where they were supposed to meet was cancelled because of violent protests.
U.S. President Donald Trump said he hoped to sign an interim trade deal with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping during the Nov 16-17 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Chile. Chilean officials said they cancelled the summit to focus on restoring law and order in the country.
The White House said afterwards the United States still expects to sign an initial trade agreement with China next month, but no alternate location had yet been set for Xi and Trump to meet.
“We look forward to finalizing Phase One of the historic trade deal with China within the same time frame,” the White House said in a statement that omitted a mention of the president or his planned meeting with Xi.
U.S. and Chinese negotiators have been racing to finalize a text of the “phase one” agreement for Trump and Xi to sign next month, a process clouded by wrangling over U.S. demands for a timetable of Chinese purchases of U.S. farm products.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who was traveling in the Middle East, said that U.S. discussions with China had been productive, and work on finalizing the text of the deal was continuing.
A critical date is Dec 15, when new U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports such as laptops, toys and electronics kick in. Both the United States and China have an interest in reaching a deal and averting those tariffs.
Trump suspended U.S. tariffs that were planned for Oct 15 earlier this month, after trade talks in Washington. But the White House has not announced any plans to defer or cancel the Dec 15 ones.
There is no obvious international meeting in the near future where Trump and Xi could meet on the sidelines, since Trump is not attending the East Asian Summit in Thailand next week, one diplomat said.
