Trump Says China Trade Deal May Not Come Until After 2020 Election

President Donald Trump said Tuesday that a trade agreement with China may not until after the U.S. presidential election in November 2020, injecting further volatility into markets.

The U.S.-China trade war is continuing to drag on, with neither Trump nor Chinese President Xi Jinping willing to back down

“I have no deadline, no. In some ways, I think I think it’s better to wait until after the election with China,” Trump told reporters in London, according to Reuters.

“In some ways, I like the idea of waiting until after the election for the China deal. But they want to make a deal now, and we’ll see whether or not the deal’s going to be right; it’s got to be right,” said Trump.

Following his comments U.S. stock futures turned negative.

Trump on Tuesday also reacted to an earlier comment by French President Emmanuel Macron where he referred to the “brain death” of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

In an interview with The Economist in November, Macron had warned European countries that they couldn’t rely on the U.S. to defend NATO allies.

Trump’s comments came after Washington threatened to impose tariffs on up to $2.4 billion of French goods Monday, including champagne and luxury items.

On Monday, Trump tweeted that he's reinstating tariffs on steel and aluminum from Argentina and Brazil, criticizing them for what he said is the cheapening of their currencies to the detriment of U.S. farmers. 

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President Donald Trump waves before boarding Air Force One Monday for his trip to London. White House photo by Shealah Craighead.