China Trade Summit Cancled

"Unrest has spread across the capital city [Santiago] over inequality, sparking riots and demonstrations that have left at least 18 people dead."

"The White House acknowledged the cancellation and said it was 'awaiting potential information regarding another location.' "

"Washington and Beijing have been engaged in a trade war that has led to the countries slapping tariffs on each other’s imports, but the Office of the US Trade Representative said both sides have 'made headway on specific issues' after a recent round of talks."

"Beijing announced earlier this month that it would buy up to $50 billion worth of US agricultural products if the Trump administration would back off imposing more tariffs on Oct. 15." (2019)

"It wasn’t immediately clear Wednesday (10/30/19) whether the summits would be moved to another country."

" 'This has been a very difficult decision, a decision that causes us a lot of pain, because we fully understand the importance of APEC and COP-25 for Chile and for the world,' President Sebastian Pinera said in a statement."

“ 'A president must always put his compatriots above all else,” [Pinera] added. “Our main concern is re-establishing public order, our citizens’ safety and social peace along with pushing through a social agenda to respond to the main demands of our citizens.' ”

"Deputy press secretary Hogan Gidley said the administration 'looks forward to finalizing Phase One of the historic trade deal with China within the same time frame.' "

"Trump said Monday negotiations with China were 'ahead of schedule' and suggested that he and Xi would sign an agreement during the Chile meeting."

" 'We are looking probably to be ahead of schedule to sign a very big portion of the China deal, and we’ll call it Phase One but it’s a very big portion,' [Trump] told reporters. "

"Lead negotiators from the U.S. and China will hold trade talks on the phone on Friday (11/1/19), China’s Ministry of Commerce said Thursday. (10/31/19) "

"Last Friday,(10/25/19) China’s top trade negotiator Liu He, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin held a phone call in which they confirmed portions of the technical aspects of the trade agreement text, according to a separate statement from the Commerce Ministry."

"The two sides reached a consensus on issues such as China removing a ban on imports of U.S. poultry, and applying a health information system for meat products, the ministry said."

" 'The Chinese and U.S. trade delegations remain in close communication, (and) at this time there is smooth progress on negotiations,' the commerce ministry said in an online post, according to CNBC’s translation of the Chinese text."

" 'Both sides will continue to push ahead with the negotiations and other work as originally planned,' the statement said, adding the leaders of the discussions are set to hold a phone call on Friday."

"Trump disputed this version of events, tweeting: 'China and the USA are working on selecting a new site for signing of Phase One of Trade Agreement, about 60% of total deal, after APEC in Chile was canceled do to unrelated circumstances. The new location will be announced soon. President Xi and President Trump will do signing!' "

"David Cheetham at the currency trader XTB said: 'The latest comments from Beijing suggested that investors may be getting a little bit ahead of themselves in assuming a smooth de-escalation in trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies.' "

"Chris Beauchamp, the chief market analyst at the spread betting firm IG, said: 'China appears not to trust Donald Trump over the putative trade deal.' He said markets remained 'acutely sensitive to any trade war headlines'."

"The deal, which Trump announced the contours of Oct. 11, had calmed fears of a continuing escalation in the trade war that has cast a shadow over the global economy for the past 18 months."

" 'We understand perfectly the importance of APEC and COP for Chile and the world, but we have based our decision on common sense,' Pinera said from the presidential palace. 'A president needs to put its people above everything else.' "

"The decision to cancel the meetings highlights the depth of trouble facing the Latin American nation that has seen almost two weeks of rioting and protests. "

"The cancellation 'suggests that the trade war uncertainty might be hanging over us for longer,' Torsten Slok, the chief economist at Deutsche Bank AG, told Bloomberg Television after the announcement. 'It raises the risk that we could never see a phase two or phase three.' "