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BCN-18
US-CHINA-TRADE-DEAL
Trump sees ‘very good chance’ of trade deal with China
WASHINGTON, March 14, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – US President Donald Trump said
Wednesday he sees a “very good chance” of reaching a trade deal with China
but is in “no rush” to reach an agreement.
“I think there’s a very good chance the deal will be made,” Trump said.
“They want to make a deal. China wants to make a deal.”
But he also said that he is “in no rush. I want the deal to be right,”
adding that “if it’s not, we’re not going to make that deal.”
Eight months into their sprawling trade war, US and Chinese officials have
alternated between projecting optimism and warning that they have much to do
before reaching a final outcome.
The two sides have exchanged tariffs on more than $360 billion in two-way
trade, but US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer on Tuesday declined to
state publicly whether Washington would lift the tariffs it has imposed so
far if both sides reach a deal.
US officials are demanding far-reaching changes to Chinese industrial
policy — including an end to massive state intervention in markets,
subsidies and the alleged theft of American technology — and insist that any
agreement must be enforceable.
BSS/AFP/HR/1000