Trump says 'big progress' on possible China trade deal

By Yeganeh Torbati and Ryan Woo

 

FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump takes part in a welcoming ceremony with China's President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, November 9, 2017. REUTERS/Damir Sagolj/File Photo

 

WASHINGTON/BEIJING (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Twitter on Saturday that he had a "long and very good call" with Chinese President Xi Jinping and that a possible trade deal between the United States and China was progressing well.

 

As a partial shutdown of the U.S. government entered its eighth day, with no quick end in sight, the Republican president was in Washington, sending out tweets attacking Democrats and talking up possibly improved relations with China.

 

The two nations have been in a trade war for much of 2018, shaking world financial markets as the flow of hundreds of billions of dollars worth of goods between the world's two largest economies has been disrupted by tariffs.

 

Trump and Xi agreed to a ceasefire in the trade war, deciding to hold off on imposing more tariffs for 90 days starting Dec. 1 while they negotiate a deal to end the dispute following months of escalating tensions.

 

"Just had a long and very good call with President Xi of China," Trump wrote. "Deal is moving along very well. If made, it will be very comprehensive, covering all subjects, areas and points of dispute. Big progress being made!"

 

Chinese state media also said Xi and Trump spoke on Saturday, and quoted Xi as saying that teams from both countries have been working to implement a consensus reached with Trump.

 

"I hope that the two teams will meet each other half way, work hard, and strive to reach an agreement that is mutually beneficial and beneficial to the world as soon as possible," Xi said, according to the state-run Xinhua news agency.

 

Having cancelled his plans to travel to his estate in Florida for the holidays because of the government shutdown that started on Dec. 22, Trump tweeted, "I am in the White House waiting for the Democrats to come on over and make a deal."

 

The Republican-controlled Congress was closed for the weekend and few lawmakers were in the capital.

 

The shutdown, affecting about one-quarter of the federal government including 800,000 or so workers, began when funding for several agencies expired.

 

Congress must pass legislation to restore that funding, but has not done so due to a dispute over Trump's demand that the bill include $5 billion in taxpayer money to help pay for a wall he wants to build along the U.S.-Mexico border.

 

The wall was a major 2016 campaign promise of Trump's, who promised then that it would be paid for by Mexico, which has steadfastly refused to do so. Trump has since demanded that U.S. taxpayers pay for it at an estimated total cost of $23 billion.

 

He sees the wall as vital to stemming illegal immigration, while Democrats and some Republicans see it as an impractical and costly project. The standoff over Trump's demand for funding will be a test for Congress when it returns next week.

 

Trump tweeted on Saturday that the deaths of two migrant children this month who had been taken into U.S. custody after trying to cross the southern border were "strictly the fault of the Democrats and their pathetic immigration policies."

 

It was unclear exactly which policies Trump was referring to, but his aides have referred to U.S. laws and court rulings - including laws passed with bipartisan support - that govern the conditions under which children and families can be detained as "loopholes" that encourage illegal immigration.

 

On Friday, Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen visited Border Patrol stations in Texas after her agency instituted expanded medical checks of migrant children following the two deaths. She is also due to visit Yuma, Arizona, the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement on Saturday.

 

In the interim, thousands of employees of federal agencies such as the Homeland Security, Justice, Commerce, Interior, Transportation, Agriculture and other departments were staying at home on furlough or soon to be working without pay.

 

For instance, members of the U.S. Coast Guard will receive their final paychecks of the year on Monday, the service said in a statement on its website on Friday after previously warning that payments would be delayed due to the shutdown.

 

"The administration, the Department of Homeland Security [DHS], and the Coast Guard have identified a way to pay our military workforce on Dec. 31, 2018," the service website read.

 

That paycheck will be their last until the government reopens.

 

The Federal Emergency Management Agency also said on Friday that it would resume issuing new flood insurance policies during the shutdown, reversing an earlier decision.

 

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-12-30

Is this the same China deal he lied about last time?

As for the neo-NAFTA deal, Trump will get ridiculously low concessions and then claim a major win! ????

His efforts are already yielding results. This went largely unnoticed and must have hurt them to write this, but..

 

https://money.cnn.com/2017/07/21/news/china-rice-us-trade/index.html

 

 Great to see new firsts in American trade, and all thanks to Trump. Now, no doubt there will be hundreds of people rushing along to slam Trump and claim exporting rice to China is bad. 

555555.

 

Then he rang up KJU and after a long chat declared "big progress" on NK denuclearization.

 

????????????????

1 minute ago, TopDeadSenter said:

His efforts are already yielding results. This went largely unnoticed and must have hurt them to write this, but..

 

https://money.cnn.com/2017/07/21/news/china-rice-us-trade/index.html

 

 Great to see new firsts in American trade, and all thanks to Trump. Now, no doubt there will be hundreds of people rushing along to slam Trump and claim exporting rice to China is bad. 

More winning!!

 

We buy highly value-added tech from them and they buy rice from us.

 

Must feel good to go from being an industrial powerhouse to China's agriculture supplier... ????????????

4 minutes ago, TopDeadSenter said:

His efforts are already yielding results. This went largely unnoticed and must have hurt them to write this, but..

 

https://money.cnn.com/2017/07/21/news/china-rice-us-trade/index.html

 

 Great to see new firsts in American trade, and all thanks to Trump. Now, no doubt there will be hundreds of people rushing along to slam Trump and claim exporting rice to China is bad. 

Yeah! Great achievement with the highest trade deficit ever with China! ????

https://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/balance/c5700.html

26 minutes ago, TopDeadSenter said:

His efforts are already yielding results. This went largely unnoticed and must have hurt them to write this, but..

 

https://money.cnn.com/2017/07/21/news/china-rice-us-trade/index.html

 

 Great to see new firsts in American trade, and all thanks to Trump. Now, no doubt there will be hundreds of people rushing along to slam Trump and claim exporting rice to China is bad. 

It says there right in the article, this deal has taken ten years to complete.

 

So ‘allthanks to Trump’?

 

Erm, no.

What separates a politician from a normal human being is an excessive amount of gall. No normal human being would have the gall of a Speaker, who stood up and criticized the President for creating deficits.. ( The President can only propose a budget. He cannot force the Congress to accept it.)

Probably the shutdown is getting to hot he is trying to shift the attention away from it with a bs story

“Trump says 'big progress' on possible China trade deal” — is that the same guy who said Mexico would pay for a wall? The same guy who said he had given the military a 10% pay rise? The same guy who said he had the biggest inauguration ever?

6 minutes ago, welovesundaysatspace said:

“Trump says 'big progress' on possible China trade deal” — is that the same guy who said Mexico would pay for a wall? The same guy who said he had given the military a 10% pay rise? The same guy who said he had the biggest inauguration ever?

 

About the only thing he hasn't lied about recently is his threat to freeze the pay of government workers, sneakily taking advantage of the shutdown to do so through executive order. 400,000 no pay for xmas, 400k furloughed, and now this. He is the gift that just keeps giving.

 

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2018/12/29/trump-moves-freeze-pay-federal-workers-amid-shutdown/2439801002/

5 hours ago, Chomper Higgot said:

It says there right in the article, this deal has taken ten years to complete.

 

So ‘allthanks to Trump’?

 

Erm, no.

So that would mean that it was started during the early part of the Obama presidency and have little to do with Trump, as usual.

6 hours ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Is this the same China deal he lied about last time?

I saw on my favourite news channel recently that Trump had set a new record for most lies in one day.

Perhaps he is attempting to shatter his own record. He is the best. A real (great) genius who knows no shame.

It would be interesting to know if President Xi agrees that the "Deal is moving along very well".

6 hours ago, TopDeadSenter said:

His efforts are already yielding results. This went largely unnoticed and must have hurt them to write this, but..

 

https://money.cnn.com/2017/07/21/news/china-rice-us-trade/index.html

 

 Great to see new firsts in American trade, and all thanks to Trump. Now, no doubt there will be hundreds of people rushing along to slam Trump and claim exporting rice to China is bad. 

Today an IT expert on CNN stated 40% plus of data on the internet is Fake News.  China buys rice over 12,000 klms away when there is ample in SE Asia; fake news. Next you will be telling me Eskimos are buying bags of ice from South Africa, LOL

7 minutes ago, 1337markus said:

China buys rice over 12,000 klms away when there is ample in SE Asia; fake news.

Any proof for your claim? Or just typical far-right conspiracy theories?

 

7 minutes ago, 1337markus said:

Next you will be telling me Eskimos are buying bags of ice from South Africa, LOL

Comparing apples with oranges, congrats. 

7 hours ago, TopDeadSenter said:

His efforts are already yielding results. This went largely unnoticed and must have hurt them to write this, but..

 

https://money.cnn.com/2017/07/21/news/china-rice-us-trade/index.html

 

 Great to see new firsts in American trade, and all thanks to Trump. Now, no doubt there will be hundreds of people rushing along to slam Trump and claim exporting rice to China is bad. 

Did you notice the byline date on the article you linked to? It's July 21, 2017.

Now there are more current articles.

"Officials at a government-affiliated think tank in Beijing said the price of U.S. rice was not competitive, compared with imports from South Asia, and said the move to formally permit imports from the United States should be interpreted as a goodwill gesture."

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/12/28/reuters-america-update-3-china-allows-first-ever-u-s-rice-imports-ahead-of-trade-talks.html

 But as we know from the case of that vague memo that emerged from the meeting between Trump and Kim, Trump is a sucker for a nicely packaged piece of insignificance.

 

31 minutes ago, welovesundaysatspace said:

Any proof for your claim? Or just typical far-right conspiracy theories?

 

Comparing apples with oranges, congrats. 

Officials at a government-affiliated think tank in Beijing said the price of U.S. rice was not competitive, compared with imports from South Asia, and said the move to formally permit imports from the United States should be interpreted as a goodwill gesture. (my bold emphasis)

However, rice from the United States will be permitted as long as cargoes meet China’s inspection standards. But a lack of phytosanitary protocol between China and the United States effectively banned imports, according to trade group USA Rice.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-usa-trade-rice/china-allows-first-ever-us-rice-imports-ahead-of-trade-talks-idUSKCN1OR0LB

So the concession is a negotiation ploy - give up what is unneeded or irrelevant.

If that protocol still applies the concession might not be real in practice.

 

7 hours ago, TopDeadSenter said:

His efforts are already yielding results. This went largely unnoticed and must have hurt them to write this, but..

 

https://money.cnn.com/2017/07/21/news/china-rice-us-trade/index.html

 

 Great to see new firsts in American trade, and all thanks to Trump. Now, no doubt there will be hundreds of people rushing along to slam Trump and claim exporting rice to China is bad. 

Once again taking credit for a deal done by others.... when all else fails, lie to the people.... yep... winning trump style... MAGA!

 

china was simply waiting for the lack luster American governmental agencies to certify their product / facilities, QA/ QC... it’s about time that they finally got around to it... or perhaps pathetic that it was not up to China’s standard, given the low standard generally acceptable by the Chinese.

 

But hey... Chinese demands will drag you out of the poop, and help make America great again... thanks China. ????????????

 

1 hour ago, Srikcir said:

give up what is unneeded or irrelevant

2017 Top Providers of Chinese Imported Rice:

1. Vietnam: US$1.02 billion (55.9% of China’s total rice imports)
2. Thailand: $544.1 million (29.8%)
3. Cambodia: $101.1 million (5.5%)
4. Pakistan: $93.6 million (5.1%)
5. Laos: $32.8 million (1.8%)
6. Myanmar (Burma): $31.8 million (1.7%)
7. Japan: $1.1 million (0.06%)
8. Russia: $962,000 (0.05%)
9. Taiwan: $314,000 (0.02%)
10. South Korea: $208,000 (0.01%)
11. India: $10,000 (0.001%)
12. United States: $9,000 (0.0005%)

http://www.worldstopexports.com/chinas-rice-imports-by-country/

8 hours ago, TopDeadSenter said:

His efforts are already yielding results. This went largely unnoticed and must have hurt them to write this, but..

 

https://money.cnn.com/2017/07/21/news/china-rice-us-trade/index.html

 

 Great to see new firsts in American trade, and all thanks to Trump. Now, no doubt there will be hundreds of people rushing along to slam Trump and claim exporting rice to China is bad. 

Exporting rice to China doesn't make economic sense. And, that is the reason why this is a nothing burger BS from Trump. With US prices higher than other world competitors it doesn't work:

Quote

U.S. rice prices continue to be significantly higher than its competitors, says Dr. Nathan Childs, senior rice economist for the USDA-ERS, and a speaker for a recent University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture Food and Agribusiness Webinar

https://www.farmprogress.com/rice/us-rice-farmers-losing-market-share-mexico-latin-america

I think it’s a biggee Trumpee progress. It has to be a biggee progress  to remove the self imposed $6billion additional month payments balance loss that the US is absorbing for its farmers to plow in to waste soy, corn and other agricultural staple crops that the US cannot now sell to its major buyer China in retaliation to Trumpee tariffs. I think Homer Simpson would have more intelligence than the current biggee deal maker US president. 

Edited December 30, 20187 yr by Roadman

1 hour ago, keemapoot said:

Exporting rice to China doesn't make economic sense. And, that is the reason why this is a nothing burger BS from Trump. With US prices higher than other world competitors it doesn't work:

https://www.farmprogress.com/rice/us-rice-farmers-losing-market-share-mexico-latin-america

???? maybe some cheap South American labor might help bring down the price o rice.... ????

Hope so, but considering the source...

...not overly optimistic. 

Troll posts and replies removed.  

8 hours ago, keemapoot said:

Exporting rice to China doesn't make economic sense. And, that is the reason why this is a nothing burger BS from Trump. With US prices higher than other world competitors it doesn't work:

 

In effect, that's the same as exporting 2500 liters of water to China for every kg of rice that's sent there.   Frankly, a lot of US agricultural exports make no sense when there isn't enough water in some of the growing areas like California. 

 

But it works for Big Ag because of antiquated water laws that don't recognize the true value of the water that goes into those agriculture export commodities.  And Big Ag greases the political machine with contributions.  So the rest of us take it in the shorts.

 

Edited December 30, 20187 yr by impulse

"Trump pulled out of a massive trade deal. Now 11 countries are going ahead without the US"

 

"Our competitors in Australia and Canada will now benefit from those provisions, as US farmers watch helplessly," said US Wheat Associates President Vince Peterson at a hearing on the potential negotiations with Japan."

 

https://edition.cnn.com/2018/12/29/politics/tpp-trade-trump/index.html

There is one thing that is very consistent about Trump. And it is virtually the only consistency in his nature. And that is his willingness, and desire to lie, to deflect, to obfuscate, and to create an alternate reality, to deflect truth. So, if anything could be said about this current stage of Chinese - US negotiations, it is that Trump is once again misleading us. If he says progress is being made, that means no progress is being made. Always remember one thing about the man, and that is that he is a terrible negotiator. Remember the North Korean summit? Talk about walking away empty handed. 

 

Xi has a profoundly greater amount of intelligence, vision, and ability than Trump. Trump negotiating with Xi, is like a boy scout fighting a special forces veteran. They are just not in the same league, and Trump is going to be outplayed every single time.

1 hour ago, spidermike007 said:

Trump negotiating with Xi, is like a boy scout fighting a special forces veteran. They are just not in the same league, and Trump is going to be outplayed every single time.

And that boy scout has got bone spurs to boot!

2 minutes ago, Becker said:

And that boy scout has got bone spurs to boot!

...and incredibly tiny hands.