Go to contents

Trump-Xi trade meeting 'unlikely' before March deal deadline

Trump-Xi trade meeting 'unlikely' before March deal deadline

Posted February. 09, 2019 08:45,   

Updated February. 09, 2019 08:45

한국어

A summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, which was expected to schedule in late February, has been shelved. Watchers say that talks to resolve bilateral trade dispute will unlikely take place.

Meeting with White House correspondents on Thursday, President Trump officially announced that a bilateral summit will not take place before March 1, the deadline for talks to resolve the Washington-Beijing trade dispute. When asked by reporters if he will meet President Xi within this month, President Trump said “No.”

“White House aides expressed concern by saying that ‘President Trump is already busy with preparation for a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, and if he seeks to strike a deal in Washington-Beijing trade talks, he will have too many things to deal with,” CNBC reported.

Washington apparently seeks to preemptively block Beijing’s possible bid to leverage the North’s denuclearization in its trade talks, and instead intends to concentrate on respective agendas by addressing the North’s denuclearization and Washington-Beijing trade talks separately.


lightlee@donga.com