In an interview with Fox Business Tuesday morning, President Trump’s chief economic adviser Larry Kudlow said exports as part of the phase one trade deal with China will take longer because of the coronavirus outbreak.
“It is true the ‘phase one’ trade deal, the export boom from that trade deal, will take longer because of the Chinese virus,” Kudlow said. “On the other hand, the North American trade deal, USMCA, is going to unlock tremendous investment … Manufacturers will benefit.”
In the phase one deal, there is a clause that would help China meet its commitments if unforeseeable events would prevent it. Chinese Ambassador Huang Ping responded to Kudlow’s comments, saying he doesn’t know if China will exercise that clause.
“I hope the ‘phase one’ deal, which we tried very hard to get there, will not be affected,” Huang said at a press conference in New York Tuesday. “So, let’s wait and see how quickly this can be over for the disease.”
Kudlow went on to tell Fox Business that the economic impact to the U.S. would be minimal. He did add the caveat, “This is all iffy. There’s a lot of information we don’t know.”