Looks like the US-China trade war will extend well into the next year, just as analysts had feared previously. After weeks of dropping promising hints about progress towards a phase one trade deal, US President Donald Trump dashed hopes of any resolution after commenting that the trade war could end only after the 2020 presidential elections.

Ahead of his meeting with NATO leaders, Trump made these remarks while addressing journalists, adding, “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.”

US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross also echoed a similar sentiment when he commented that there were no deadlines by when the US and China had to reach a deal. Ross also further escalated tensions between the two world leaders by discussing the issue of the ban on Huawei.

Ross alleged that Huawei has been trying to get its American suppliers to violate US laws by moving their operations offshore to continue supplying components even after Huawei was added to the Entity List. Such a move would help the companies bypass the possibility of sanctions on their business.