US Trade Representative has formally scheduled to publish a notice regarding extension of trade truce with China. It said in the notice that it is “no longer appropriate” to raise tariffs on Chinese products due to the progress of trade negotiations. And, “the rate of additional duty for the products covered by the September 2018 action will remain at 10 percent until further notice.” The notice will be published in the Federal Register next week.
After that, Trump tweeted “I have asked China to immediately remove all Tariffs on our agricultural products (including beef, pork, etc.) based on the fact that we are moving along nicely with Trade discussions…. ….and I did not increase their second traunch of Tariffs to 25% on March 1st. This is very important for our great farmers – and me!”
It’s uncertain what China’s response to Trump’s request would be. From China’s point of view, the logical equivalent response to Trump’s refrain from more tariffs is not to impose retaliation measures of their own. And China has already made some good-faith purchases of US soybeans since the start of trade truce. Chinese leaders could have their own rationales in rejecting Trump’s requests. The negotiation could turn down hill if China does say “no”.
And as a recap, Trump said after the summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un collapsed that “I am always prepared to walk,” and “I’m never afraid to walk from a deal, and I would do that with China, too, if it didn’t work out.” He walked away from a deal with Kim after traveling all the way to Vietnam. He can certainly walk away from a deal with China sitting in the Oval Office.
This could be the turning point in whole US-China trade negotiations
