Trade deal may not happen in 2019

Trump says partial agreement between U.S. and China up in the air

President Donald Trump suggested on Friday that the U.S. and China may not complete a partial trade deal this year, raising fresh doubts about prospects for a commercial truce that once was expected to be signed next weekend.

“We’ll see what happens,” the president replied when a reporter asked if the agreement would be concluded in 2019.

Speaking on the south lawn of the White House, the president added to confusion over the state of the rollercoaster talks. He denied reports — which the White House had confirmed one day earlier — that he had agreed to remove some tariffs as part of an initial deal.

“I haven’t agreed to anything,” Trump told reporters. “China would like to get somewhat of a rollback, not a complete rollback because they know I won’t do it.”

The president’s remarks appeared to conflict with those of his National Economic

Council director, Larry Kudlow. On Thursday, Kudlow confirmed the Chinese Commerce Ministry’s claim of a tariff accord, telling Bloomberg: “If there’s a Phase 1 trade deal, there are going to be tariff agreements and concessions.”

White House officials speaking privately also confirmed the Chinese statement.

Chinese officials have insisted that any deal must include the immediate removal of some tariffs and a path toward the elimination of all of the levies Trump has imposed since March of last year.

The president turned to tariffs last year to force China to abandon trade practices, especially in the high-technology area, that disadvantaged American companies.

The U.S. currently levies tariffs on roughly $360 billion in Chinese imports and plans to extend the import fees to everything Americans buy from China starting Dec. 15.

Many administration officials opposed Trump’s decision to impose those tariffs on roughly $160 billion in products, including popular consumer goods such as smartphones and laptop computers. The president now is seen as willing to scrap them.