US Trade Representative States March 1 As The 'Hard Deadline' For Trade Deal With China


12/11/2018



In a warning of sorts, US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer has said that new tariffs will be imposed by the Trump administration on Chinese imports into the country if the US-China trade talks failed to yield any success by March 1 next year. This was defined as a "hard deadline" for the trade talks to get satisfactorily completed.
 
Global financial markets have in turmoil and very concerned the escalating trade war between the United States and China – the two largest economies of the world, over allegations from the US about the huge trade deficit it has every year with China and the allegations of trade and business policies of Beijing of stealing technology and intellectual property of American companies.
 
"As far as I am concerned, it is a hard deadline. When I talk to the President ... he is not talking about going beyond March," Lighthizer said during a television interview with the CBS show Face The Nation. He was referring to the recent decision by US President Donald Trump to delay the imposition of enhanced tariffs and allow the trade talks between the two countries to restart.
 
"The way this is set up is that at the end of 90 days, these tariffs will be raised," said Lighthizer. It is believed that Lighthizer would be leading the US delegations in the trade talks with China and his comments apparently also indicated that speculation of extension of the 90 day deadline of the talks as agreed between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in after their meeting in Argentina on the sidelines of the G20 summit.
 
Following a troubled and concerned filled week for the markets, investors "can be reassured that if there is a deal that can be made that will assure the protection of US technology... and get additional market access ... the President wants us to do it", Lighthizer said. "If not, we will have tariffs."
 
When questioned about sending a trade negotiation delegation to the US this week, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said that economic and trade teams of both the countries were "intensifying contacts and consultations".
 
"We hope both can earnestly, with joint efforts, put into effect the consensus reached by the two countries' leaders at the Argentina meeting," he told a daily news briefing in Beijing.
 
The agreement between Xi and Trump which was arrived at in Argentina just over a week ago entails a temporary 90 day truce in the trade war between the two countries with the US halting the imposition of increased tariffs from 10 per cent to 25 per cent on Chinese goods import of Chinese goods worth $200 billion. In the mean time, the two countries would try and arrive at an agreement on trade.  
 
However there is some speculation in certain circles that the trade talks could between the countries could be clouded by arrest of the CFO of the Chinese technology giant Huawei in Canada at the behest of the US.   
 
However, the US has maintained that the incident would not impact the incumbent trade talks and this was stressed on by Lighthizer, economic adviser Larry Kudlow and trade adviser Peter Navarro.
 
(Source:www.straitstimes.com)