US-China Trade Talks Need ‘Different Structure’ – Trump

US President Donald Trump signaled a new direction in the ongoing US-China trade talks. His remark added more uncertainty on the possible outcomes of the negotiations between the two parties.

Trump wrote on his official Twitter account, “Our Trade Deal with China is moving along nicely, but in the end, we will probably have to use a different structure in that this will be too hard to get done and to verify results after completion.”

Representatives for the White House did not respond to a request for more information regarding President Trump’s tweet.

His remark made the US stocks drop, but the stocks ended the Wednesday trade with a positive note.

His statement comes amid the negotiations between the world’s two largest economies after imposing potential tariffs which raised fears of a potential trade war, even as some tensions have eased over signs of some possible progress.

Both parties assured to continue their talks after last week’s round in Washington that pledges China to import more American energy and agricultural commodities, so as to trim $335 billion annual US goods and services trade deficit with China.

Gao Feng, Chinese Commerce Ministry spokesman, said on Thursday, “China unswervingly defends its core interests, and did not make any promise on cutting its trade surplus with the US by a specific figure.”

“China welcomes the US in sending senior trade delegations to China soon, and hopes China and the US can work together to actively implement the measures specified in the joint statement according to the understanding both sides achieved recently in DC,” Gao added.

Gao, along with China, hopes both sides will move to push bilateral trade cooperation to achieve positive and realistic goals.

Several experts say that the deal is likely to take a long time, and US officials have threatened to impose back its tariffs, which prompted the current standoff if needed.

Earlier this year, Trump threatened to impose tariffs on up to $150 billion of Chinese goods.

The ongoing talks have also been clouded by separate negotiations over Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s nuclear weapons program, which considers China as its ally.

Trump seeks to win a major deal with Pyongyang to denuclearize and eyes a talk with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un on June 12.

However, Trump raised doubts that the meeting might not be pushed through, and suggested Kim’s recent meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping had influenced Kim to harden his stance.

FSMSmart Review