Delaying Trade Deal Beyond 2020 May Deprive China Of Advantage - US Commerce Secretary

Delaying a trade deal with China until after the 2020 US election may deprive Beijing of the advantage it thinks it has over President Donald Trump, US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said in an interview on Tuesday

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 03rd December, 2019) Delaying a trade deal with China until after the 2020 US election may deprive Beijing of the advantage it thinks it has over President Donald Trump, US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said in an interview on Tuesday.

"That takes off the table something that they may think gives them some leverage," Ross told CNBC. "Because once the election occurs - and the president seems to be in very good shape for the election - once it occurs and he's back in, now that's no longer a distraction that can detract from our negotiating position."

Trump, speaking in London ahead of a NATO summit, said he was alright heading into the 2020 election with the US-China trade war unresolved.

The president said he does not have a deadline and likes the idea of waiting until after the election for the China deal. Trump says they will want to see whether or not the deal is going to be right.

Until last week, officials in the Trump administration had maintained that Washington and Beijing were close to the phase one of a deal to end the bitter 16-month trade wrangle between the two countries.

But the mood appeared to have changed after Trump's signing of two US bills endorsing Washington's support for pre-democracy fighters in Hong Kong against Chinese rule - an action that Beijing clearly disapproved.