Sat, Nov 17, 2018 page10

• Only basic US-China deal likely: Ross

  G20 SUMMIT: The US secretary of commerce said the meeting between Trump and Xi would not end in a formal deal and tariffs on Chinese goods would be raised on Jan. 1

  • Bloomberg
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  The US still plans to raise tariffs on Chinese imports in January next yearwith US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) likely at best to agree to a “framework” for further talks to resolve trade tensions at an upcoming meeting, US Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross said on Thursday.

  The US and China are discussing the agenda for the two leaders’ meeting on the sidelines of the Nov. 30 to Dec. 1 G20 summit in Buenos Aires and what a realistic outcome could be.

  When asked about a report that China this week had presented a list of possible concessions ahead of the talks, Ross said in an interview that everything leading up to the meeting is just “preparatory.”

  “The big event is going to be the one-on-one meeting with President Trump and President Xi at the G20 down in Argentina. All this other stuff is just preparatory until that. That’ll set if there is going to be a real framework,” he said at the ribbon cutting for Cheniere Energy Inc’s new liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal in Corpus Christi, Texas.

  It cannot be expected that the two presidents are to “get into intimate details — how much LNG and how much this and that. It’s going to be big picture, but if it goes well, it’ll set the framework for going forward,” Ross said. “We certainly won’t have a full formal deal by January. Impossible.”

  Ross said that the US is still planning on Jan. 1 to increase tariffs to 25 percent on some US$200 billion in goods from China that became subject to a 10 percent import tax in September.

  The US has a long list of demands with 142 items, which would take some time to discuss “let alone to resolve them and let alone to put them on paper,” the secretary said.

  Ross said that he remains confident that a deal would eventually be made, although big questions remain about when that would happen.

  China has proved that it is aware of its own commercial self-interest and the effect its own retaliatory measures are having on it, Ross said, pointing to Beijing’s decision to reduce a 25 percent retaliatory tariff on US LNG to 10 percent.

  “China needs LNG. The demand for it is insatiable. In fact, demand everywhere is getting to be insatiable,” he said. “China isn’t going to do anything that isn’t in its own self-interest.”

  The Trump administration also plans to push for a commitment from China to resume imports of US soybeans in any trade accord reached between the world’s two largest economies, a top agricultural official said.

  China slapped a 25 percent retaliatory tariff on US-grown beans, which halted trade flow and left US farmers scrambling to find storage in hopes of a resolution. The Asian nation has turned to South America to replace US supply, sparking concern that the trade spat could have lasting effects.

  While the US has been pushing for higher sales of agricultural products generally, US Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Steve Censky said any trade pact would also address the resumption of soybean sales specifically, since that was targeted in the trade war.

  “We would want to make sure it includes the commodities that we normally have exported there that have been affected by their retaliation,” Censky said in an interview in Chicago.

  Censky, who previously headed the American Soybean Association, said that Trump would be looking for a “robust level of commitments from China for purchases, because we want to make sure that we resume our sales.”
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