Dec. 3 (UPI) — The level of detail in talks between Chinese and U.S. leaders at the G20 summit last weekend suggest efforts to improve trade will succeed, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said Monday.
In a conference call with reporters, the National Economic Council chief referred to a dinner Saturday in Buenos Aires with President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping as “an enormous event” which included “so much ground, so much detail.”
The two leaders agreed to a truce in their countries’ trade war at the meeting, he added. White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said later Trump promised not to go through with a planned tariff hike — from 10 percent to 25 percent — on $200 billion worth of Chinese products. In exchange, Xi agreed to purchase a “very substantial” amount of agricultural, energy and industrial product from the United States.
“You could see he [Xi] was selling this,” Kudlow said. “He made the pitch himself. He wasn’t winging it. He was well-prepared.”
Kudlow added that the trade agreement is “broader [and] more detailed than anything we’ve had before.”
Escalated tariffs were to begin Monday, but Chinese Vice Premier Lui He said “changes will begin immediately, presumably car tariffs,” Kudlow said.
Tough negotiations remain on issues like intellectual property theft and cyberattacks, but Kudlow said China must be held to World Trade Organization norms as a major economic player.
“They’re not a developing country. They’re in the major leagues,” Kudlow said, adding that China agreed to comply to WTO rules. He also said Beijing agreed to classify fentanyl, an opioid drug widely exported from China, as a controlled substance. The change, he said, has a “heavy” bearing in Chinese courts.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin confirmed Monday that China agreed to eliminate tariffs on imported cars. Sunday, Trump said China would “reduce and remove” tariffs on American-made vehicles.
