Trump: Significant Progress Made in Trade Negotiations with China

Donald Trump, the President of the United States, tweeted on Saturday, January 8, that he had a "long and very good" phone conversation with his Chinese counterpart, and the path to a trade agreement between the two countries has become smoother. The US and China spent most of 2018 in a trade war with each other, which has had clear impacts on the global market. The two countries are considered the largest economic powers in the world and engage in billions of dollars of trade in goods and services annually, which has now been disrupted by increased tariffs. Trump and Xi Jinping, the President of China, recently agreed to a trade truce to avoid imposing further tariffs for 90 days starting from December. It has also been agreed that both sides will continue their negotiations to reach a trade agreement and end tensions. Mr. Trump stated on Twitter: "I just had a long and very good conversation with the President of China. Efforts to reach an agreement are going very well." He added: "If such an agreement is reached, it will be very comprehensive and will cover all topics, areas, and contentious issues. Significant progress has been made." Chinese state media also reported on the phone conversation between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping, quoting the Chinese President as saying that delegations from both countries will cooperate to implement the agreement reached with Trump. According to these reports, the Chinese President expressed hope that both groups would work hard to reach an agreement that benefits both countries and the world as soon as possible. Washington had previously announced that March 1 is the deadline set for trade negotiations between the parties, and if no agreement is reached, the United States will implement new tariffs.