(Miami) President Donald Trump ruled on Friday that the US relations with China had been “severely damaged”, citing the coronavirus crisis, and said he did not envisage “for the moment” a second phase in the economic agreement signed in January between the two world powers.
Posted on 10 July 2020 at 12 h 30 Updated at 13 h 07
France Media Agency
China “could have stopped” the coronavirus epidemic and it “did not”, accused the president again aboard the presidential plane, en route to Florida. “Relations with China have been badly damaged,” he said.
Asked about a future second phase to the agreement signed after two years of trade war, he replied: “I don't think about it yet”.
“Honestly, I have a lot of other things in mind,” he added.
The COVID pandemic – 19, which appeared late 2019 in China, dramatically heightened tensions between Washington and Beijing. The Trump administration accuses the Chinese authorities of having delayed alerting the world to the epidemic, and therefore of being responsible for its spread.
The coronavirus “has consequences” on the preliminary commercial agreement concluded at the beginning of the year, had recognized in June an adviser of the Chinese government.
This “phase one” agreement marked a truce in the trade war between the two leading world powers, with punitive customs taxes on hundreds of billions of dollars in bilateral trade.
Under the terms of this agreement, the Trump administration has committed to postpone any further increase in tariffs. The Chinese, for their part, have promised to increase by 200 billion dollars over two years their purchases of American products compared to the level of 2017.
