U.S. President Donald Trump said that he opposed renegotiating the U.S.-China “Phase 1” trade deal after a Chinese state-run newspaper reported some government advisers in Beijing were urging fresh talks and possibly invalidating the agreement. The Global Times tabloid reported that unidentified advisers close to the talks have suggested that Chinese officials revive the possibility of invalidating the trade pact and negotiate a new one to tilt the scales more to the Chinese side

Trump, who himself has considered abandoning the pact signed in January, told a White House press briefing that  he wanted to see if Beijing lived up to the deal to massively increase purchases of U.S. goods. The Global Times tabloid reported on that unidentified advisers close to the talks have suggested that Chinese officials revive the possibility of invalidating the trade pact and negotiate a new one to tilt the scales more to the Chinese side. The Global Times is published by the People's Daily, the official newspaper of China's ruling Communist Party. Hours  after the report was published, Chinese importers bought at least four cargoes, or about 240,000 tonnes, of U.S. soybeans for shipment beginning in July.

The purchases were the latest in a recent string by China, which U.S. officials say has also begun implementing other parts of the trade deal regarding intellectual property protections. Under the Phase 1 deal signed in January, Beijing pledged to buy at least $200 billion in additional U.S. goods and services over two years while Washington agreed to roll back tariffs in stages on Chinese goods. Trump, who has blamed China's early handling of the new coronavirus outbreak in its central city of Wuhan for thousands of U.S. deaths and millions of job losses, said last week he was "very torn" about whether to end the Phase 1 trade deal. Those comments came just hours after top trade officials from both countries pledged to press ahead with implementing the agreement.

Rising U.S.-China tensions over the coronavirus outbreak have cast the trade deal and proposed talks on a Phase 2 deal into doubt. The Trump administration asserted there was evidence the new coronavirus came from a Wuhan laboratory, an allegation that China has rejected.

Source- Reuters