No material impact from coronavirus on US-China trade deal for now, says Mnuchin
US treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin has said he does not expect the current coronavirus outbreak to have a material impact on the Phase 1 US-China trade deal, although this could change as more data becomes available.
The IMF warned yesterday that the COVID-19 outbreak will negatively impact the global economy even if it is rapidly contained, and called for coordinated action to contain its human and economic impacts.
Mnuchin last night cautioned against jumping to conclusions about the impact of what he described as a “human tragedy” on the global economy or on companies’ supply chain decisions.
In an interview with Reuters, the treasury secretary said it was simply too soon to know the full impact of the virus.
While China is focused on the epidemic for now, Mnuchin said, Washington still expects Beijing to meet its commitments to buy more US goods and services under the terms of the deal.
“I don’t expect that this will have any ramifications on Phase 1. Based on everything that we know, and where the virus is now, I don’t expect that it’s going to be material,” he said.
“Obviously that could change as the situation develops. Within the next few more weeks, we’ll all have a better assessment as there’s more data around the rate of the virus spreading.”
Mnuchin acknowledged that the outbreak could delay the start of negotiations on deepening the trade deal and reaching a Phase 2 agreement with Beijing, but said he was not worried about that at this point.
“If we get the right deal before the election, that’s great. If we get the right deal after the election, that’s great. We don’t feel any pressure one way or another,” he said, referring to the US presidential election in November.