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WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump on Tuesday (Oct. 6) suspended negotiations with Democratic lawmakers on coronavirus relief legislation until after the election, even as cases of the virus are increasing much of the year. country before the flu season.
“I have instructed my representatives to stop negotiating until after the election when, immediately after I win, we will pass a major stimulus bill that focuses on working Americans and small businesses,” Trump wrote on Twitter one day after leaving a hospital stay for Treatment for COVID-19.
Trump’s surprise move came after U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Sunday during an interview with NBC’s Face the Nation that progress was being made in her negotiations with the Trump administration over a bill to tap into more than $ 3 trillion in coronavirus aid. enacted into law earlier this year.
Earlier Tuesday, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell told a business conference that America’s economic expansion was “far from complete” after the deep contraction stemming from the coronavirus pandemic.
Powell warned that the United States’ failure to provide further relief “would lead to a weak recovery, creating unnecessary hardship for households and businesses.”
Following Trump’s announcement to break up negotiations, US stocks fell more than 2 percent in afternoon trading.
In recent days, financial markets were expecting progress toward a COVID-19 vaccine and another round of economic stimulus from Congress would boost the U.S. economy, which has shown signs of renewed weakness.
Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin had been talking regularly for the past week as they tried to bridge the gap between a recent Democratic call for around $ 2.2 trillion in new spending to fight the pandemic and strengthen the economy, opposite to about $ 1.6 trillion. wanted by the administration.
However, it was unclear whether enough Senate Republicans would have supported any deal.
Pelosi’s aides were not immediately available for comment.
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