President Trump Announces ‘Phase One’ Deal With China After Articles of Impeachment Vote

Do you think the Democrat leaders should take note?

CBS News has more details on the trade deal:

President Trump claims the U.S. has agreed to a "Phase One Deal" with China on trade, which the president says will lead to structural changes and agricultural product purchases, among other things. The president also announced tariffs on $160 billion in Chinese imports won't go into effect on December 15.

The Trump administration had already claimed they reached a "phase one" deal with China in October, but the countries have now agreed on the text of such a deal. The president's announcement came minutes after the House Judiciary Committee approved articles of impeachment, sending those articles to the House for a floor vote. 

Mr. Trump also said negotiations will begin for a "Phase Two Deal immediately," instead of after the 2020 presidential election. The Chinese are also holding a press conference to announce some sort of agreement. 

                                                                                   

"We have agreed to a very large Phase One Deal with China," the president tweeted Friday morning, the president tweeted. "They have agreed to many structural changes and massive purchases of Agricultural Product, Energy, and Manufactured Goods, plus much more. The 25% Tariffs will remain as is, with 7 1/2% put on much of the remainder....The Penalty Tariffs set for December 15th will not be charged because of the fact that we made the deal. We will begin negotiations on the Phase Two Deal immediately, rather than waiting until after the 2020 Election. This is an amazing deal for all. Thank you!"

The president's top economic adviser Larry Kudlow, however, said on CNBS he didn't want to put a timeline on a second phase of an agreement. Kudlow told reporters on a conference call that U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and a Chinese representative will sign the first phase of the deal "in a few weeks." 

The U.S. Trade Representative emphasized that they believe the agreement is enforceable, establishing a dispute resolution system. 

"President Trump has focused on concluding a Phase One agreement that achieves meaningful, fully-enforceable structural changes and begins rebalancing the U.S.-China trade relationship. This unprecedented agreement accomplishes those very significant goals and would not have been possible without the President's strong leadership," Lighthizer said in a statement. 

Market Watch also said:

President Donald Trump announced a “phase one” trade deal with China on Friday, saying Beijing had agreed to targeted purchases of U.S. goods and will avoid tariffs that had been set to go into place on Sunday. 

 Trump said in a pair of tweets that the Chinese had agreed to “many structural changes and massive purchases” of American farm, energy and manufactured goods. 

After Chinese Vice Minister Wang Shouwen, speaking in Beijing, didn’t specify purchase figures, Trump told reporters China would likely buy $50 billion in U.S. farm products. A senior administration official said China’s purchases of those and other goods would total $200 billion over two years. The deal also covers intellectual property, financial services, currency and other areas, according to the U.S. Trade Representative. 

Separately, Trump said tariffs that had been scheduled to begin Sunday on $156 billion in Chinese goods were being scrapped. 

“The Penalty Tariffs set for December 15th will not be charged because of the fact that we made the deal,” the president wrote, tweeting as Chinese officials were briefing reporters in Beijing.