Even as coronavirus takes toll on the global economy, US-China tussle is expected to add to woes after Donald Trump refused to renegotiate the ‘Phase One’ trade deal with China. It comes as Chinese-state media reported that the government advisers in Beijing are planning to hold fresh talks on the trade deal with the US. “I’m not interested in that,” US President Donald Trump told reporters when asked about reports that China was mulling reopening trade talks. “Let’s see if they live up to the deal that they signed,” he added.
On Monday, The Global Times tabloid reported that advisers close to the bi-lateral trade talks had urged the Chinese officials on possibly invalidating the agreement. In January 2020, both countries had reached a partial trade deal. Under the ‘Phase One’ deal, China had pledged to purchase at least $200 billion in additional US goods and services in the coming two years, the US agreed to withdraw tariffs gradually on Chinese goods.
Trump has pinned blame on China for the coronavirus outbreak, saying that the pandemic could have been contained earlier if the Asian country had acted sooner. Trump had earlier threatened China with fresh tariffs over its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to a recent analysis by the US-China Investment Project, the Chinese investment in America fell to $5 billion last year, a marginal decline from the corresponding period of last year. It also stands at the lowest level since the global financial crisis of ten years ago.
Meanwhile, over 80,000 people have died in America from coronavirus so far. It’s by far the highest death toll of any nation, according to the figures released on Monday by Johns Hopkins University.
