US President Donald Trump on Thursday said that the United States and China are working on selecting a new site for signing of 'phase one' of the trade deal between the two countries after the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Chile, the original venue for the agreement inking was shelved.
Trump said that he and Chinese President Xi Jinping will sign the deal and the new location will be announced soon.
"China and the USA are working on selecting a new site for the signing of Phase One of Trade Agreement, about 60 per cent of the total deal, after APEC in Chile was cancelled due to unrelated circumstances. The new location will be announced soon. President Xi and President Trump will do signing!" he tweeted.
Trump's remarks came after Chile on Wednesday cancelled the summit scheduled to be held on November 16 and 17 amid widespread demonstrations in the capital, Santiago, over a proposed hike in public transport ticket prices. With no secondary hosting option, the plan to sign the new trade deal has now become uncertain.
On the same day, Trump spoke to his Chilean counterpart Sebastian Pinera to express his support for the decision for the summit cancellation and to denounce "foreign efforts to undermine Chilean institutions, democracy, or society," a White House spokesperson was quoted by The Hill as saying.
On October 13, Trump announced he had agreed in principle to the "phase one" trade deal with China's Vice Premier Liu He after high-level negotiations between the two sides in Washington.
He also said that the deal includes China agreeing to raise its US agricultural purchases to between USD 40 billion and USD 50 billion in addition to making reforms concerning intellectual property and financial services.
( With inputs from ANI )