'I'm not interested': Donald Trump rules out renegotiating trade deal with China

Donald Trump has responded to reports suggesting China is looking to reopen trade talks with the US, telling a media briefing he was "not even a little bit" interested in going back to the table.

US President Donald Trump has unloaded on former president Barack Obama.

US President Donald Trump has unloaded on former president Barack Obama. Source: AAP

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday ruled out renegotiating the trade agreement signed with China.

"I'm not interested in that," Mr Trump told media when asked about reports that China was looking to reopen talks about the trade deal signed in January.
"Not even a little bit," he said. "We signed a deal... they'd like to re-open the trade talks to make it a better deal for them.

"Let's see if they live up to the deal that they signed."

Washington and Beijing reached a partial trade deal in January.
As recently as Friday Vice Premier Liu He, who had led China's negotiations, spoke by phone with US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and confirmed that both sides agreed to implementing the first phase of the deal.

Under the agreement, the Trump administration agreed to postpone any further tariff increases, while China promised to increase by $200 billion over two years their purchases of US products compared to the level of 2017.

Since the deal was reached, the US president has repeatedly hit out at China's handling of the novel coronavirus pandemic and threatened fresh tariffs.
The Trump administration has accused China of taking too long to warn the world about the epidemic, and therefore to blame for the virus spreading around the world and triggering the global economic crisis.


Share
2 min read

Published

Updated

Source: AFP, SBS


Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world