US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a Fox News Sunday interview that the US is having “very productive conversations” with China. And he’s “cautiously hopeful we can reach an agreement” to avert the tariffs on USD 50-60b announced last week. Mnuchin noted that both countries agreed on reducing the US trade deficit to China. And, they were trying “to see if we can reach an agreement as to what fair trade is for them to open up their markets, reduce their tariffs, stop forced technology transfer.”
But Mnuchin emphasized that the US is still on track to impose the Section 301 tariffs unless there is an “acceptable agreement” for Trump to sign off on. He also noted that “we’re not afraid of a trade war, but that’s not our objective.” And, “in a negotiation you have to be prepared to take action.”
Separately, the WSJ reported that Mnuchin and US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer sent a letter to Chinese Vice Premier Liu He last week, detailing the list of specific request for China. And the list is reported to include reduction of Chinese tariffs on US vehicles, purchases of semiconductor products and larger access to China’s financial markets.
