Trump says signing of China trade deal ‘being arranged’

President Trump said Friday that he spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping about the “phase one” trade agreement with Beijing and said a formal signing of the deal is “being arranged.” 

“Had a very good talk with President Xi of China concerning our giant Trade Deal. China has already started large scale purchaes of agricultural product & more,” Trump tweeted Friday morning. “Formal signing being arranged.”

Had a very good talk with President Xi of China concerning our giant Trade Deal. China has already started large scale purchaes of agricultural product & more. Formal signing being arranged. Also talked about North Korea, where we are working with China, & Hong Kong (progress!).

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 20, 2019

The Trump administration announced a “phase one” trade deal with China last week, which came after months of negotiations between U.S. and Chinese counterparts amid a trade dispute.

Officials said the deal involves lifting some U.S. tariffs on China, while Beijing has agreed to purchase more agricultural products from the U.S.

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer also said the U.S. secured concessions from China in terms of structural changes related to intellectual property, currency and other issues.

Trump and his advisers have touted the deal as a major victory and said it will pave the way for a second, more substantial “phase two” trade deal with Beijing.

But the text of it has not yet been released, creating continued uncertainty about its contents. Trump administration officials have said they expect the deal to be signed in early January, at which point it will be released. 

“It’s just going through what I would consider to be a technical, legal scrub, and we’ll be releasing the document and signing it in the beginning of January,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on CNBC Thursday.

Trump also said Friday that he spoke with Xi about North Korea and the ongoing protest in Hong Kong, touting “progress” on the latter.