(Bloomberg) -- The trade deal is “fine” and China is “substantially” increasing purchases of American goods, U.S. President Donald Trump’s top economic adviser Larry Kudlow said Tuesday, dismissing concerns that rising tensions between the two countries might jeopardize the deal.
The “one area we are engaging is trade,” Kudlow said at a White House press conference. “It’s fine right now.”
China continues to promise to implement the phase-one trade and the evidence shows they are increasing purchases, especially of commodities, Kudlow said.
In January, China promised to buy an additional $200 billion of U.S. goods and services over the 2017 level by the end of 2021. That agreement paused a bruising trade war between the world’s two largest economies, although the relationship has deteriorated on almost every other front since then.
China Is Buying American But Not Enough to Hit Trade Deal Target
By the end of June China had only bought about 23% of the total purchase target for 2020 of more than $170 billion in goods, according to Bloomberg calculations based on Chinese data. Senior U.S. and Chinese officials are planning to assess the implementation of the trade agreement on or around Aug. 15.
Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, U.S.-China ties have collapsed, with the two countries clashing on multiple fronts including the spread of the virus, Hong Kong issues and technology.
©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
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