COVID-19: US President Donald Trump Threatens To Terminate US-China Trade Deal

WASHINGTON DC (United States): President of the United States (POTUS) Donald Trump has threatened to terminate the trade deal with China if Beijing did not honour its provisions in the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic.

The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission in a report said that China could invoke a clause in the agreement that allows for fresh trade consultations between the two countries in the event of a natural disaster or another unforeseeable event.

China and the US in January signed Phase-1 of the trade deal as the world’s two top economic powers move forward to end their bitter tit-for-tat two-year tariff war that had rattled markets and weighed on the global economy.

Trump administration officials and Beijing have insisted that the so-called phase one of the deal, which calls on China to buy $200 billion worth of U.S. energy and agricultural products, is set to move ahead as planned, even as the president himself took shots at Beijing from the White House podium over the weekend as the spread of the virus has now killed more than 40,000 Americans.

Yet China could invoke a clause in the agreement that allows for fresh trade consultations between the two countries “in the event that a natural disaster or other unforeseeable events” postpones the ability of either party to verify that the clauses are being met, according to the commission report, a copy of which was obtained by Foreign Policy.

President Trump launched the trade war with China in 2018, demanding Beijing to reduce the massive trade deficit, which was  375.6 billion US Dollars in 2017.

from League of India