On trade talks with China, US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said there is “far better than 50/50” chance that the trade agreement is “signable on or about the time of the Chile conference”, referring the APEC summit on November 16-17. Though, “you never know with paperwork, you can always run into a glitch at the last minute. Also, he said China was “following through in good faith on the promises that they made” earlier this month to press ahead with big purchases of US farm products.
Ross also indicated new trade negotiations with EU could be an alternative to auto tariffs. He said, “one would be to say, ‘I’m just not going to do anything’, the second would be to impose tariffs on some or all . . . the third might be some other form of negotiation.” Ross added that President Donald Trump has “quite a lot of alternatives as to what he can decide to do, and I don’t think we should prejudge what the conclusion will be”.
So far, Trump’s administration has hesitated to start auto tariffs, and turned to trade negotiations instead. A six-month reprieve was offered back in May which pushed the deadline for decision in mid-November. And so far, Canada, Mexico, South Korea and Japan have each struck deals with the US already. EU will be the most relevant should auto tariffs come into effect.
