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China is likely to delay purchases of U.S. goods promised under “Phase 1” of the U.S.-China trade deal as a result of the outbreak of the cornonavirus, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said Tuesday.
“The export boom from that trade deal will take longer because of the Chinese virus,” Kudlow said in an appearance on the Fox Business Network.
Under terms of the partial trade pact signed last month, China pledged to increase its purchases of U.S. goods and services by $200 billion over two years.
Read: Trump signs ‘landmark’ trade deal
Kudlow said he thought the impact of the coronavirus on the U.S. economy was going to be “minimal.” Kudlow said the U.S. was more focused on trying to help China. “We’d like to make them as healthy as we can,” he said.
Preliminary estimates by government economists foresee a 0.2% reduction in U.S. GDP in the first quarter and another 0.2% cut later in the year, he said. “It is not a catastrophe. It is not a disaster. I think people should be very calm about this,” Kudlow said.
“This is not going to be that big a deal for us,” he added.
