Another tripping RCCB

[webfact]

Trump says he is in no rush to complete China trade deal

By Steve Holland and Jeff Mason

 

FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting at the White House in Washington, U.S., February 22, 2019. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/File Photo

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he was in no rush to complete a trade pact with China and insisted that any deal include protection for intellectual property, a major sticking point between the two sides during months of negotiations.

 

Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping had been expected to hold a summit at the president's Mar-a-Lago property in Florida later this month, but no date has been set for a meeting and no in-person talks between their trade teams have been held in more than two weeks.

 

The president, speaking to reporters at the White House, said he thought there was a good chance a deal would be made, in part because China wanted one after suffering from U.S. tariffs on its goods.

 

But he acknowledged Xi may be wary of coming to a summit without an agreement in hand after seeing Trump end a separate summit in Vietnam with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un without a peace deal.

 

"I think President Xi saw that I'm somebody that believes in walking when the deal is not done, and you know there's always a chance it could happen and he probably wouldn't want that," Trump said.

 

China has not made any public comment confirming Xi is considering going to meet Trump in Florida or elsewhere.

 

The president, who likes to emphasise his own deal-making abilities, said an agreement to end a months-long trade war could be finished ahead of a presidential meeting or completed in-person with his counterpart.

 

"We could do it either way. We could have the deal completed and come and sign, or we could get the deal almost completed and negotiate some of the final points. I would prefer that," he said.

 

Trump decided last month not to increase tariffs on Chinese goods at the beginning of March, giving a nod to the success of negotiations so far.

 

But hurdles remain, and intellectual property is one of them. Washington accuses Beijing of forcing U.S. companies to share their intellectual property and transfer their technology to local partners in order to do business in China. Beijing denies it engages in such practices.

 

Asked on Wednesday if intellectual property had to be included in a trade deal, Trump said: "Yes it does."

 

He indicated that from his perspective, a meeting with Xi was still likely.

 

"I think things are going along very well - we'll just see what the date is," Trump told reporters at the White House. "I'm in no rush. I want the deal to be right. ... I am not in a rush whatsoever. It's got to be the right deal. It's got to be a good deal for us and if it's not, we're not going to make that deal."

 

'MAINTAINING CONTACT'

China's Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday that Xi had previously told Trump that he is willing to "maintain contacts" with the U.S. president.

 

Over the weekend, Vice Commerce Minister Wang Shouwen, who has been deeply involved in the trade talks with the United States, did not answer questions from reporters on whether Xi would go to Mar-a-Lago.

 

Two Beijing-based diplomatic sources, familiar with the situation, told Reuters that Xi would not be going to Mar-a-Lago, at least in the near term.

 

One said there had been no formal approach from the United States to China about such a trip, while the second said the problem was that China had realised a trade agreement was not going to be as easy to reach as they had initially thought.

 

"This is media hype," said the first source, of reports Xi and Trump could meet this month in Florida.

 

Though Trump said he is not in a hurry, a trade deal this spring would give him a win to cite as an economic accomplishment as he advances his 2020 re-election campaign. The trade war has hurt the global economy and hung over stock markets, which would likely benefit from an end to the tensions.

 

In addition to smoothing over sticking points on content, the United States is eager to include a strong enforcement mechanism in a deal to ensure that Beijing can be held accountable if it breaks any of its terms.

 

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, who has spearheaded the talks from the American side, said on Tuesday that U.S. officials hoped they were in the final weeks of their talks with China but that major issues remained to be resolved.

 

(Reporting by Steve Holland and Jeff Mason; additional reporting by Doina Chiacu, and Ben Blanchard in BEIJING; editing by Jonathan Oatis and Michael Perry)

 

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-03-14

[samran]

No rush = not making any progress.

 

Not that I blame the Donald for this. It’s usual Chinese modus operandi to stonewall and a valuable lesson to other countries looking to deal with them. 

[zydeco]

Translation: No Deal. But Trump isn't going to admit it because he is keeping hopes of an agreement going in order to pump up the markets.

[rocketman777]

2 hours ago, webfact said:

in part because China wanted one after suffering from U.S. tariffs on its goods.

 The latest trade figures show the Balance of trade with China has increased  since the tariffs.

[Srikcir]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

"I think President Xi saw that I'm somebody that believes in walking when the deal is not done, and you know there's always a chance it could happen and he probably wouldn't want that,"

Which is exactly why there shouldn't be a trade summit meeting without a confirmed, detailed deal!

Xi is smart enough to avoid such a trap that Trump fell for twice with Kim.

[Tug]

Translation = trade wars not so easy after all tired of winning yet?

[usviphotography]

He's in a tough position because Trump is pretty much the only politician in America who favors a hard line on trade with China. If you are China, why not just wait out the six years until a pro-Chinese Dem or pro-Chinese GOPe President takes office and the whole issue goes away? You may only have to wait two years! Even in a worst case type scenario where Trump is succeeded by another MAGA Republican, you can always make the same deal on the table now then. Or you could wait him out too. 

 

The only reason China would be prompted to make a deal is if they are seriously worried civil unrest in the next six years related to the slowing economy could topple the government. But even then I say they'd wait till at least 2020 to see if Trump survives. China's more stable government system gives them the luxury of patience, and I don't see why they wouldn't make use of that advantage. Trump is trying to do the right thing, but I'm not sure he has the leverage to pull it off.  

[bristolboy]

1 hour ago, usviphotography said:

He's in a tough position because Trump is pretty much the only politician in America who favors a hard line on trade with China. If you are China, why not just wait out the six years until a pro-Chinese Dem or pro-Chinese GOPe President takes office and the whole issue goes away? You may only have to wait two years! Even in a worst case type scenario where Trump is succeeded by another MAGA Republican, you can always make the same deal on the table now then. Or you could wait him out too. 

 

The only reason China would be prompted to make a deal is if they are seriously worried civil unrest in the next six years related to the slowing economy could topple the government. But even then I say they'd wait till at least 2020 to see if Trump survives. China's more stable government system gives them the luxury of patience, and I don't see why they wouldn't make use of that advantage. Trump is trying to do the right thing, but I'm not sure he has the leverage to pull it off.  

He may have been trying to do the right thing, but he went about it in a very stupid way.

[tlandtday]

7 hours ago, rocketman777 said:

 The latest trade figures show the Balance of trade with China has increased  since the tariffs.

the tariffs need to get bigger... china is still dumping product below cost

[usviphotography]

1 hour ago, bristolboy said:

He may have been trying to do the right thing, but he went about it in a very stupid way.

I don't see any other way of going about it. He's pursuing the best hand he has, but with the majority of the US Political Establishment in China's corner rather than America's, I just don't see it working out unless China is really, really spooked about their economic situation triggering unrest. Because otherwise China can afford to wait him out. 

[bristolboy]

5 minutes ago, usviphotography said:

I don't see any other way of going about it. He's pursuing the best hand he has, but with the majority of the US Political Establishment in China's corner rather than America's, I just don't see it working out unless China is really, really spooked about their economic situation triggering unrest. Because otherwise China can afford to wait him out. 

He could have started by going after their finished products instead of basic things like steel and aluminium which disproportionately runs up the cost of American goods and makes them less competitive abroad. Also, his fixation on the balance of trade makes no sense especially given that his tax cuts increased the deficit and so make an increase in the trade imbalance inevitable.

[Prissana Pescud]

3 hours ago, usviphotography said:

I don't see any other way of going about it. He's pursuing the best hand he has, but with the majority of the US Political Establishment in China's corner rather than America's, I just don't see it working out unless China is really, really spooked about their economic situation triggering unrest. Because otherwise China can afford to wait him out. 

If you ever want a definition of extreme patience, it is China. 

[lannarebirth]

5 hours ago, bristolboy said:

He may have been trying to do the right thing, but he went about it in a very stupid way.

 

It makes a change from all those who tried to do the wrong thing, well.  So, maybe sometime in this decades long national slide we'll start looking for candidates who try to do the right thing, for the right reasons, the right way.

[Enoon]

4 hours ago, bristolboy said:

He could have started by going after their finished products

 

Deprive his Americans of their God given right of access to cheap "products"?

 

Are you mad?

 

He's a populist, not the Anti-Santa.

 

 

[Enoon]

6 hours ago, bristolboy said:

He may have been trying to do the right thing, but he went about it in a very stupid way.

 

There is no "intelligent" way to piss into the wind.

 

 

[stevenl]

7 hours ago, bristolboy said:

He could have started by going after their finished products instead of basic things like steel and aluminium which disproportionately runs up the cost of American goods and makes them less competitive abroad. Also, his fixation on the balance of trade makes no sense especially given that his tax cuts increased the deficit and so make an increase in the trade imbalance inevitable.

Main thing: he shouldn't have done this alone. He should have gotten Europe, Canada, Australia and others with him, in stead of waging with them also. 

[edwinchester]

"Trade wars are good and easy to win"

[IAMHERE]

China is selling as much as ever to the USA while Trump dickers. I'd think China has plenty of years to dicker if they aren't losing dollars. Trump can afford to dicker for at most six years. Trump better close our ports to chinese goods sooner than later.

[bristolboy]

38 minutes ago, IAMHERE said:

China is selling as much as ever to the USA while Trump dickers. I'd think China has plenty of years to dicker if they aren't losing dollars. Trump can afford to dicker for at most six years. Trump better close our ports to chinese goods sooner than later.

And with that shut down lots of American industry, too.

[zydeco]

16 hours ago, usviphotography said:

He's in a tough position because Trump is pretty much the only politician in America who favors a hard line on trade with China.

Not exactly. The hardline on China was the one issue where he had bipartisan support of one sort or another. Had he even been able to develop a strategy, he would have found allies in Europe and elsewhere. Instead, he declared war on the world, in trade terms. The big problem is China. Other problems could have waited. The man is now trying to get out of this and I think he is going to fold like he does on everything else.

[samran]

4 hours ago, edwinchester said:

"Trade wars are good and easy to win"

About as easy as getting Mexicans to pay for his wall!