President Trump Announces U.S.-China Trade Deal May Be Signed in Iowa

Nov. 2, 2019 (EIRNS)—U.S. President Donald Trump said Nov. 1 that phase one of the U.S.-China trade agreement may be signed in Iowa later this month. “I want to get the deal done first, but we’re thinking about Iowa,” Trump said on Friday as quoted by The Hill. “It would be the largest order in history for farmers. So to me, Iowa makes sense. I love Iowa. It’s a possibility.” Trump said that discussions are underway with China on where the signing will take place and that Chinese President Xi Jinping is willing to meet in the United States, since the previously proposed signing location was to take place at the now cancelled Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Chile on Nov. 16-17. The office of Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley (R) has already expressed how welcome it would be to have the two heads of state in Iowa. Trump’s statement yesterday followed one by the Chinese Commerce Ministry which said consensus has been reached with U.S. trade officials on core bilateral trade concerns of a proposed treaty. The evening of Nov. 1, China’s Vice Premier Liu He, the country’s lead negotiator, spoke by phone with U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on the deal.