Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin issued a statement on Friday in which he said that a U.S. delegation concluded trade talks with high Chinese officials, but did not announce a deal resolving the two countries’ long-running dispute. He was talking with the U.S. trade representative’s offices in downtown Washington, and he said:
‘’They were constructive discussions between both parties, that’s all we are going to say. Thank you.We don’t know what will happen in the next level of negotiation between the two sides.”
President Donald Trump gave China’s officials a signal that he won’t back up from his position in the negotiation as he defended his administration’s decision to increase tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese goods from 10 percent to 25.
Trump added that there is no need to rush a trade deal with China and touted what he sees as the economic benefits of the increased tariffs that went into effect, as he tweeted:
“Tariffs will bring in FAR MORE wealth to our Country than even a phenomenal deal of the traditional kind. Also, much easier and quicker to do.’’
According to The Hill, U.S. officials have accused China of pulling back from prior commitments to change laws to address the Trump administration’s core complaints about the trading relationship, including intellectual property theft and forced technology transfers.
China officials stated that they will respond with countermeasures against the increased tariffs by the United States.
The Trump administration’s decisions ran across some doubts from the Republican party in both Senate and the House as Republican Congressmen are uncertain about the Trump’s revision of the North American Free Trade Agreement with Mexico and Canada.
Republican Senator James Lankford issued a statement in which he said:
“The announcement from the White House that talks with China have fallen apart is not good news for American consumers. The U.S must find a path with China that opens to trade, not discourage it.”
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