U.S.-China Trade Deal Near, but Trump Not Ready to Sign Off, Kudlow Says -- Update
November 14 2019 - 8:26PM
Dow Jones News
By Harriet Torry
WASHINGTON -- U.S. and Chinese negotiators are nearing a trade
deal, but President Trump isn't ready to sign off, White House
economic adviser Lawrence Kudlow said Thursday.
The two sides are "getting close" to an agreement, Mr. Kudlow
said Thursday during a question-and-answer event at the Council on
Foreign Relations.
"The mood music is pretty good," Mr. Kudlow said, adding that
Mr. Trump "likes what he sees, he's not ready to make a commitment,
he hasn't signed off on a commitment for phase one, we have no
agreement just yet for phase one."
Negotiators for the U.S. and China have been working to come up
with a written "phase one" trade deal in which Beijing would commit
to buying American farm products and the U.S. would agree to roll
back tariffs it has imposed on Chinese imports.
"It's not done yet, but there has been very good progress and
it's also been very constructive," Mr. Kudlow said.
Both countries were initially working toward a deal that Mr.
Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping could sign this month at the
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Chile, but the summit
was canceled because of rioting there. The cancellation, combined
with difficulties at the bargaining table, has disrupted the time
frame.
Mr. Trump has said that China has agreed to buy up to $50
billion in U.S. farm goods annually, but The Wall Street Journal
reported that China was balking at making a specific dollar
commitment.
The expected rollback of tariffs has emerged as a major
stumbling block, with China pushing the U.S. to remove all levies
while the U.S. has pushed for a limited or phased rollback as
leverage to ensure China lives up to its promises.
Write to Harriet Torry at harriet.torry@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 14, 2019 20:11 ET (01:11 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.