US President Donald Trump today clarified that the US-China trade deal, agreed upon in January, was "fully intact" after White House trade adviser Peter Navarro said that the trade deal with China was "over."
"...Hopefully, they will continue to live up to the terms of the Agreement!" Trump said in a tweet. However, Navarro reportedly said later his comments were taken out of context.
Most Asian share indices recovered after Trump and Navarro offered a clarification. Asian equities had fallen sharply after Navarro's interview with Fox News, where he accused China of withholding information about the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic in the Asian country.
Navarro said that by the time the deal was signed, the Chinese government had sent "hundreds of thousands of people to spread the virus in this country (the US)" and the news of the virus began to spread just after the Chinese delegation left, Fox News reported.
The trade agreement was meant to ease tensions between the two largest economies following an intense trade war that stemmed from US accusations over China's malpractices in trade. The US administration has been looking for avenues to punish or seek financial compensation from China for what it sees as withholding information about the virus, Fox News had reported quoting Navarro.
