Trump To Sign Phase One Of US-China Trade Deal On 15 January

The long-awaited trade deal between the two largest economies in the world is moving towards a definitive truce. A partial trade has been agreed to be signed between China and the US in the middle of this month.

In a tweet on Tuesday, US President Donald Trump said, "I will be signing our very large and comprehensive Phase One Trade Deal with China on January 15."

He also said that the signing ceremony will take place at the White House where high-level representatives of the two countries will meet. Trump will be visiting Beijing at a later date to begin talks on Phase Two of the trade deal, he added.

Under phase one of the trade deal, which was announced on 13 December 2019, the US has plans to suspend new tariffs on $160billion worth of Chinese imports, which include smartphones and toys. China, in return, will be buying more US farming products and make fresh commitments to improve intellectual property protections. The countries haven't revealed the full terms of their 86-page agreement.

In December, US trade representative Robert Lighthizer had said that he is expected to sign the deal with his Chinese vice-premier, Liu He and that the full contents of the deal would then be released publicly.