U.S. President Donald Trump said he would sign the recently negotiated phase-one trade deal with China on Jan. 15 in Washington and will travel to Beijing later in 2020 to begin talks on a phase two agreement.
“I will be signing our very large and comprehensive Phase One Trade Deal with China on January 15,” President Trump tweeted Tuesday, adding that the ceremony will “take place at the White House” with high-level representatives from China.
Word of the deal, and the de-escalation of the trade conflict, has driven a Wall Street rally this month but US stocks were lower at the open early Tuesday.
The world’s two largest economies earlier this month announced a “Phase One” deal in their nearly two-year trade confrontation, with Washington canceling some new tariffs and reduce rates for other duties, and China said it would buy more U.S. agricultural products. It also includes changes related to intellectual property and technology.
No detailed paperwork on the agreement has been released, and China has yet to confirm the dollar amount of U.S. farm goods it has pledged to buy. Both sides have said they’ve been waiting for text of the agreement to be translated between Chinese and English.
The agreement includes protections for intellectual property, food and farm goods, financial services and foreign exchange, and a provision for dispute resolution.