President Trump said on May 11 that he opposes renegotiating the terms of the “phase one” China trade agreement signed in mid-January after Beijing reportedly asked to reopen trade talks to ease the terms.

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During a press briefing at the White House, Trump ruled out the possibility of renegotiations with Beijing.

“I’m not interested. We signed the deal,” he said. “I had heard that, too—they’d like to reopen the trade talk to make it a better deal for them.

“Let’s see if they live up to the deal that they signed.”

A Chinese state-run newspaper, the Global Times, reported on May 11 that some Chinese government advisers were floating the idea of invalidating the pact and starting anew with Washington, according to Reuters.

Trump said: “China has been taking advantage of the United States for many, many years, for decades, because we had people at this position, right here where I’m standing, sitting right in that office, the Oval Office, that allowed that to happen.”. . .

Last week, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer held a conference call with China’s Vice Premier Liu He to discuss the progress on the implementation of the phase one pact.

After the call, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) stated, “Both sides agreed that good progress is being made on creating the governmental infrastructures necessary to make the agreement a success. They also agreed that in spite of the current global health emergency, both countries fully expect to meet their obligations under the agreement in a timely manner.”

The phase one agreement, which went into effect in mid-February, requires Beijing to import $200 billion worth of additional U.S. goods and services over the next two years.

The trade data for the first quarter shows that China is far behind the pace necessary to meet its purchase target. China, for example, has to import at least $80 billion in U.S. agricultural products over the next two years. In the first three months, China bought only $5.1 billion worth of farm products. To satisfy the deal, Beijing must accelerate its purchases sharply in the coming months, according to experts.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) called China’s progress “very disappointing.”