WASHINGTON (AP) President Donald Trump today hailed his administrations temporary truce with China on trade, even as his Treasury secretary and China struck a note of caution on the latest agreement.
After high-level talks in Washington last week, Beijing has agreed to substantially reduce Americas trade deficit with China.
On China, Barriers and Tariffs to come down for first time, Trump tweeted.
Both sides, however, have said there are no guarantees trade tensions are over. China hasnt said how much its willing to reduce the U.S. trade gap. The Trump administration had sought to slash the deficit by $200 billion.
Also left unclear is the issue of intellectual property.
The U.S. has long accused Beijing of secretly stealing U.S. technology from American businesses. Mnuchin said today those issues are part of our framework. These things cannot be fixed overnight.
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, who has been part of the U.S. negotiating team, is expected to go to China soon to follow up on last weeks discussions.
A day after declaring the trade war on hold, Treasury Security Steven Mnuchin told CNBC today that Trump is reserving the right to reimpose tariffs against Chinese goods if the two countries cant agree on specifics to bring down the massive trade deficit with Beijing.
Likewise, Chinas foreign ministry said details still have to be worked out.
Given the increasing interaction between the two countries, we cannot assure you they will not encounter more frictions or disputes in the future, said spokesman Lu Kang.
Last year, the U.S. had a record $376 billion deficit with China in the trade of goods; that was the largest by far with any nation.
Mnuchin has said to expect to see a big increase 35 percent to 45 percent this year alone in U.S. farm sales to China. Mnuchin also forecast a doubling in sales of U.S. energy products to the Chinese market, increasing energy exports by $50 billion to $60 billion in the next three years to five years.
Farm sales could be key politically, as many Trump supporters in rural states say they feared a U.S. trade war with China would hurt their export business.
China has agreed to buy massive amounts of ADDITIONAL Farm/Agricultural Products – would be one of the best things to happen to our farmers in many years! Trump tweeted today.
Trade analysts were not surprised that China refused to agree to a numerical target for cutting the trade gap, but they said the talks probably were more successful in easing trade tensions.
The Trump administration seems eager to engineer at minimum a temporary peace with China to ensure a smooth run-up to the Kim-Trump summit in June, Cornell University economist Eswar Prasad said, referring to the June 12 meeting scheduled between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
