US checking Xi Jinping's travel schedule to fit in trade deal signing
Phase one of a U.S.-China agreement could be signed in December.
U.S. officials have sought Chinese President Xi Jinping's travel schedule to see where a possible trade deal signing could fit in, a U.S. trade source told FOX Business.
The Chinese are working to get existing tariffs removed or lowered, and Chinese trade sources told FOX Business that China was told Dec. 15 tariffs will not be imposed by the U.S.
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President Trump had floated Iowa as a possible location for signing phase one of a deal.
The phase one pact would include Chinese purchases of American farm goods, rules to deter currency manipulation and some provisions to protect intellectual property and open up Chinese industries to U.S. firms.
Chinese Vice Premier Liu He accompanied by U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, left, and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, greets the media before a minister-level trade meetings at the Office of the United States Trade Representative in Wa
The signing may not take place until December. Trump and Xi were due to meet at this month's gathering of Asia-Pacific leaders in Chile but the event was canceled due to protests.
White House trade adviser Peter Navarro told FOX Business' "Bulls & Bears" last week that a U.S. trade deal with China will require three phases.
"To be clear, we're going to need three phases of the deal to deal with all the seven, what I call, structurally deadly sins in China," Navarro told FOX Business' David Asman on Friday.
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Navarro explained the deal needs to happen in three phases also because of the enforcement mechanism that would allow the U.S. to file claims against China if they violate the deal.
FOX Business' Edward Lawrence, Blair Shiff and Ken Martin contributed to this report.