US President Donald Trump has provided more details for his proposed “phase one” trade deal with China, Kallanish learns from a talk given by the president before the Economic Club of New York.

After recapping the administration’s domestic policy goals and alleged victories thus far, President Trump told the club members that it is shifting its focus to China.

“Before my election, Washington politicians stood by and did nothing while China ransacked our companies, stole our intellectual property, subsidised their industries at the expense of ours, and dumped their products in a deliberate strategy to close American factories all across our land,” he says.

He accuses China of cheating at the World Trade Organization level, and he blames domestic policy leaders for allowing that to happen. Moving forward, President Trump says, the US plans to use tariffs on Chinese goods to force the country to the table.

“Their supply chains are cracking very badly, and they are dying to make a deal. We’re the ones that are deciding whether or not we want to make a deal. We’re close,” he says. The ultimate goal is closing the administration’s reported $500 billion/year trade deficit with China.

“A significant phase one trade deal with China could happen. It could happen soon. But we will only accept a deal if it’s good for the United States and our workers and our great companies, because we’ve been hit very hard,” he says.