Oct 31, 2019 - Economy
Trump says new location for "phase one" U.S.-China trade deal signing will be "announced soon"
President Trump tweeted Thursday that a new site for the signing of "phase one" of the U.S.-China trade deal will be "announced soon" after Chile canceled the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit slated for next month due to ongoing protests in the country.
Why it matters, via Axios' Jonathan Swan: Trump's tweet is the most definitive sign yet that the U.S. and Chinese teams are committed to signing the "phase one" deal. Some senior administration officials — who have felt burned by China before — had privately been cautioning that it was still possible it could fall apart at the last minute.
- The trade war and its tariffs have injected uncertainty into the manufacturing sector and business sentiment in the U.S., but making the first part of this deal official could begin to help smooth things over, Axios' Dion Rabouin reports.