BCN-03 Trump says US, China trade talks to be ‘successful’

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BCN-03

US-CHINA-TRADE -TARIFF-AGREEMENT

Trump says US, China trade talks to be ‘successful’

WASHINGTON, April 18, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – US President Donald Trump on
Wednesday held out hope the current trade talks with China will be a success,
and said an announcement on the status was due “shortly.”

The president’s remarks followed a report by The Wall Street Journal
saying US and Chinese officials are tentatively working toward signing
ceremony for a new trade agreement as soon as late May.

“I have a feeling we’ll be successful,” Trump told reporters at the White
House. “That’s moving along quite well.”

“You’ll be hearing about it very, very shortly.”

Citing an unnamed source, The Journal said US Trade Representative Robert
Lighthizer was expected to travel to Beijing for a new round of face-to-face
talks the week of April 29.

The USTR office declined to comment on the report.

During shuttle diplomacy in recent months, US and Chinese officials have
alternated between projecting optimism and warning that success in their
high-stakes talks is not guaranteed.

But a key US demand — a binding enforcement mechanism to prevent Beijing
from backsliding on its commitments — has been virtually agreed, US Treasury
Secretary Steven Mnuchin said this month.

The two sides have exchanged tariffs on more than $360 billion in two-way
trade since last year, weighing on both countries’ manufacturing sectors and
unnerving global stock markets.

To help reduce Beijing’s soaring US trade surplus, Chinese officials have
offered to increase purchases of American farm goods and energy exports.

But analysts say it remains unclear how far China will go in meeting US
demands for fundamental changes in industrial policy that could weaken the
communist party’s hold on power.

BSS/AFP/HR/0920