Trump Points to ‘China Deal,’ Sees ‘Good Things’: Trade Update
President Donald Trump is sending positive vibes about getting a trade deal with China.
(Bloomberg) --
President Donald Trump is sending positive vibes about getting a trade deal with China as meetings between senior officials wrapped and eyes turn toward a discussion between the president and Vice Premier Liu He.
Liu and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer left the USTR office around 11:45 a.m. Friday after a second day of talks in Washington. Next up, Liu is scheduled to meet with Trump at the White House at 2:45 p.m.
Trump tweeted earlier Friday that “good things” were happening in the meetings -- and that if the countries did reach an agreement, he would be able to sign it without a lengthy congressional approval process.
Trade Authority
Senator Ronald Wyden, the ranking Democrat on the Finance Committee that has jurisdiction over trade policy, pushed back on Trump’s tweet in a statement Friday to Bloomberg News: “Donald Trump should know that any meaningful trade deal is only legitimate because of the authority granted to him by Congress, and that authority can be taken away,” he said.
Under the U.S. Constitution, Congress holds power over international trade. For decades, it has legally delegated trade negotiating authority to the executive branch. Lawmakers in recent months have grown increasingly wary of what they see as Trump’s abuse of that authority and discussed ways to claw it back, citing the president’s many unilateral tariff measures and a lack of transparency in negotiations.
Schumer Sounds Off And Chinese Delegation Arrives (Earlier)
As day two of U.S.-China trade talks got under way, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer criticized any deal that would include breaks for Huawei Technologies Co., the Chinese telecom giant that’s raised national-security concerns in Washington.
“A China mini deal? It must not include concessions on Huawei,” he tweeted just before the Chinese delegation arrived at the U.S. Trade Representative’s offices. “That’s what China wants most, and it would show tremendous weakness.”
Liu and his team arrived around 9 a.m. and was greeted by Lighthizer, who’s celebrating his 72nd birthday on Friday, and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.
The talks led by Liu and Lighthizer are the first senior-level in-person talks since late July to try and end an 18-month trade war that is taking a toll on the global economy and U.S. manufacturing.
Other key developments:
- Foreign firms have a clear road map for full ownership of financial services companies in China. Overseas institutions can apply for total control of onshore ventures starting in 2020, the China Securities Regulatory Commission said Friday.
- Markets cheered positive trade developments for China, the U.S. and Europe.
- Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon told CNBC he “wouldn’t be surprised if they saw some interim deal.”
- China plans to ask the U.S. to lift sanctions on its biggest shipping company at this week’s talks.
- Soybean prices are higher this week partly on expectations China will purchase more from the U.S.
Trump Says Day One of Talks Went Well (Thursday)
Trump on Thursday said the first day of high-level trade negotiations between the U.S. and China on Thursday went “very well” and that he plans to meet with the top Chinese negotiator Friday.
“We just completed a negotiation with China, we’re doing very well, we’re having another one tomorrow. I’m meeting with the vice premier over at the White House, and I think it’s going really well,” Trump said Thursday. “We’re going to see them tomorrow, right here, and it’s going very, very well.”
The U.S. and China have both appeared willing to work toward a partial deal, and leave the more controversial issues for later discussions. However, Trump repeated on Wednesday that he would prefer a complete agreement. The core U.S. demands would commit China to cracking down on the alleged theft of intellectual property and stop forcing U.S. companies to hand over their commercial secrets as a condition of doing business in China.
Without progress, the U.S. is due to increase tariffs on about $250 billion of Chinese imports to 30% from 25% on Oct. 15. More duties on $160 billion of Chinese imports are due Dec. 15.
--With assistance from Josh Wingrove, Shawn Donnan and Alister Bull.
To contact the reporters on this story: Ye Xie in Washington at yxie6@bloomberg.net;William Edwards in Washington at wedwards29@bloomberg.net;Jenny Leonard in Washington at jleonard67@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Brendan Murray at brmurray@bloomberg.net, Margaret Collins
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