US Lowers Expectations About a Possible Agreement With China

A senior White House advisor urged investors, businesses and the public to be patient about resolving the two-year trade war between the United States and China, playing down expectations Tuesday for the next rounds of trade talks.

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Chinese trade deputies are expected to meet with their U.S. counterparts in mid-September in Washington before minister-level meetings in early October in the U.S. capital, involving Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

“If we’re going to get a great result, we really have to let the process take its course,” warned the Director of the National Trade Council Peter Navarro. The advisor is known for been a consistent advocate of the administration’s use of tariffs as a way to coerce Beijing into making concessions during the bilateral negotiations.

“People need to understand this: the tariffs on China are our best defense against China’s economic aggression and best insurance policy - this is important - the best insurance policy that China will continue to negotiate in good faith,” he said.

Now U.S. President Donald Trump wants to make changes to China's policies and practices on intellectual property, the forced transfer of U.S. technology to Chinese firms, American companies' access to China's markets and industrial subsidies. 

As promised by U.S. President Donald Trump, on Sept. 1, the latest set of additional tariffs were imposed by the U.S. government on about US$125 billion worth of Chinese imports took effect, while the rest (US$157 billion) will come into force on Dec. 15. 

The products include footwear, clothing, smartwatches, and flat-panel televisions, among other detailed in a 122-page list, which experts believe will end up hurting U.S. consumers more than the Chinese economy. 

Meanwhile and in relation, Beijing will implement a levy of five percent on U.S. crude, as well as additional tariffs on some of the U.S. goods on a US$75 billion target list.

The extra tariffs of 5 and 10 percent will levy 1,717 items of a total of 5,078 products originating from the United States. Beijing will start collecting additional tariffs on the rest from Dec. 15.

Even household names such as Microsoft have declared Trump’s decision “unfair” and “un-American” and other personalities like Forbe’s senior contributor Stuart Anderson have bemoaned the trade war and its potential impact on GDP growth.