Trump says he’ll sign initial China agreement on Jan. 15

Most people agree it’s going to be a long hard slog to get a ‘phase two’ agreement.

U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday he will sign the first phase of a trade deal with China on Jan. 15, as the two nations move to cement a partial truce to the trade war.

The agreement is meant, in part, to resolve uncertainty about Trump’s adversarial approach to the China talks, which has unsettled financial markets, business executives, and other world leaders since 2018.

But even though the White House said a deal was reached more than two weeks ago, neither side has released the exact wording of their agreement.

Still, the announced deal has been enough to lift financial markets because many investors feel encouraged about the direction of the talks.

U.S. and Chinese negotiators said earlier this month they had reached a “phase one” agreement, and Trump agreed not to impose new tariffs on an additional US$160 billion in Chinese imports. The president said on Twitter on Tuesday that he would also be going to Beijing for “phase two” of negotiations at a later date. The initial deal left unresolved many of the most contentious issues the White House has raised with China, such as China’s heavy domestic industrial subsidies and technology-related provisions.

The partial easing in trade tensions comes as Trump gears up for his 2020 presidential campaign, and his message so far has been heavily focused on the American economy.

For nearly two years, Trump’s tariffs on China and other nations have created uncertainty and led business executives to pull back investments.

But the political ramifications of reaching the initial agreement remain unclear.

Some Democrats, who support taking a tougher approach with China, have criticized the White House’s initial deal, saying Trump backed down too quickly.

Critics have also said phase one of the China trade deal does not come close to meeting the president’s grandiose promises to remake American trade. “This is something that could certainly lower uncertainty and potentially take the trade war off the table as a factor that can slow the economy and hurt the stock market,” said Chris Rupkey, chief financial economist at MUFG Union Bank. “But most people agree it’s going to be a long hard slog to get a ‘phase two’ agreement.”

But White House officials have defended the agreement, saying it would more than double Chinese purchases from U.S. producers over the next two years. Trump administration officials have said China will buy US$200 billion in American agricultural, energy and manufacturing goods, though Chinese officials have not confirmed these numbers.