Trump says he could let China trade deal deadline slip, 'not inclined to'

[webfact]

Trump says he could let China trade deal deadline slip, 'not inclined to'

By Steve Holland and Ben Blanchard

 

FILE PHOTO: U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer speaks across from China's Vice Premier Liu He during the opening of U.S.-China Trade Talks in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building at the White House in Washington, U.S., January 30, 2019. REUTERS/Leah Millis/File Photo

 

WASHINGTON/BEIJING (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he could let the March 1 deadline for a trade agreement with China "slide for a little while," but that he would prefer not to and expects to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping to close the deal at some point.

 

U.S. tariffs on $200 billion (155 billion pounds) worth of imports from China are scheduled to rise to 25 percent from 10 percent if the two sides cannot reach a deal by the deadline, increasing pain and costs in sectors from consumer electronics to agriculture.

 

Trump's advisers have previously described March 1 as a "hard deadline," but Trump told reporters for the first time that a delay was now possible.

 

"If we’re close to a deal where we think we can make a real deal and it’s going to get done, I could see myself letting that slide for a little while," Trump said of the deadline at a White House cabinet meeting. "But generally speaking, I’m not inclined to do that."

 

"We’re doing very well over in China," Trump added.

 

A growing number of U.S. businesses and lawmakers have expressed hopes for a delay in the tariff increase while the two sides tackle the difficult U.S. demands for major "structural" policy changes by China aimed at ending the forced transfer of American trade secrets, curbing Beijing's industrial subsidies and enforcing intellectual property rights.

 

'SERIOUS' TALKS

Senator Rob Portman, an Ohio Republican, said he discussed the U.S.-China talks with U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Robert Lighthizer last week, and added that he thought the talks were "constructive and serious."

 

"I think they’re making progress and my hope is that by March 1 there will be enough progress to be made that at a minimum, there could be a delay in the imposition of additional tariffs," Portman told reporters.

 

Portman, who served as USTR during the George W. Bush administration, added that the Trump administration "is committed to structural reforms at this point" and Trump is less likely to settle for a deal mainly focused on increased purchases of U.S. commodities.

 

Erin Ennis, senior vice president of the U.S.-China Business Council, said more time may be needed for a deal, which will require a meeting between Trump and his Chinese counterpart to complete.

 

"What I am sensing is there is a strong desire on both sides to reach an agreement," she added.

 

Trump said last week he did not plan to meet with Xi before the March 1 deadline.

 

U.S. stocks rallied on Trump's trade comments, along with a tentative congressional spending deal aimed at avoiding another government shutdown. All three major indexes posted their biggest one-day gains for the month so far, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average snapping a four-day losing streak to rise 1.5 percent and the S&P 500 gaining 1.3 percent.

 

BOOTS ON THE GROUND

Lighthizer and U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin arrived in Beijing on Tuesday and are scheduled to hold talks on Thursday and Friday with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, the top economic adviser to Xi.

 

"We're looking forward to several important days of talks," Mnuchin told reporters after arriving at a Beijing hotel.

 

Lighthizer, who arrived at the hotel earlier in the day, did not answer reporters' questions.

 

The latest round of talks in Beijing kicked off on Monday with discussions among deputy-level officials to try to work out technical details, including a mechanism for enforcing any trade agreement. A round of talks at the end of January ended with some progress reported, but no deal and U.S. declarations that much more work was needed.

 

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard and Michael Martina; Writing by Se Young Lee and David Lawder; editing by Nick Macfie, Chizu Nomiyama and Bill Berkrot)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-02-13

[4MyEgo]

Hopefully we can see some kind of normality return to the stock market from now on...lol

[legend49]

He is out of any control, albeit trade, a wall, maintaining his administration staff. LOL calls himself a negotiator.

[car720]

The only way to open China to the world and halt bad practices is to remove the CCP and that is never going to happen.

Anything else is just obfuscation.

[Johnnyngai]

Just 30 years ago, South Korea and Taiwan both had dictators.  

Thirty years from now Mainland China will too be a democratic country.   

 

[spidermike007]

The bottom line is this. He is not a particularly good negotiator. Especially when he is up against a seasoned pro, like Xi, Kim, Pelosi and many others. So, he has been outclassed by the Chinese on this one. He bit off more than he could chew, and it came back and bit him on the butt. The Chinese may make some small compromises. But, in the end, American businesses and the American people are the ones getting hurt by the massive Trump tax hike (tariffs are nothing more than a tax hike). And the savings that many corporations did get from his massive corporate give away, are not being used to increase American production. They are being used to do stock buy backs, which do not benefit the nation, and they are being used to build plants overseas. Nearly everything this man touches, turns to crap. When will people begin to see this?

 

Trump is a very unstable non genius. Pelosi, and Xi are Albert Schweitzer by comparison. Talk about being outclassed. It does not take much with Trump. 

[zydeco]

23 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

But, in the end, American businesses and the American people are the ones getting hurt by the massive Trump tax hike (tariffs are nothing more than a tax hike).

So you favor the continued outsourcing of America to China and the concomitant rise of an American funded Chinese military and economic hegemony in Asia? And btw I think Trump will cave on the tariffs just like he does everything else. China is the one single issue he could have bipartisan support on in the US and international support. But he will give it all away with a promise from the Chinese to buy more soybeans and not to steal anymore technology. Really. All he cares about is the stock market. It's his presidential Nielsen Ratings, and a "deal" will pump the market bubble even more. Trump's narcissism will leave the US a desolated nation and economy.

[Srikcir]

37 minutes ago, zydeco said:

It's his presidential Nielsen Ratings

And weakening:

The stock market doesn't like tariffs and restrictions on free trade. If President Trump pushes it too far, the policy could sink the stock market. https://www.investors.com/how-to-invest/investors-corner/trump-trade-tariffs-history-dow-jones-industrials/

After their worst year in close to a decade US stocks started the new year with a more than 1% decline on Wednesday before inching their way back into the black as Donald Trump blamed a “glitch” for last year’s losses. https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/jan/02/us-markets-down-government-shutdown

That's new - a Glitch blaming a glitch.

[zydeco]

2 hours ago, Srikcir said:

The stock market doesn't like tariffs and restrictions on free trade. If President Trump pushes it too far, the policy could sink the stock market.

It's a bubble right now. It would have been far better had it been let down gradually. But Trump and the one percent on Wall Street don't care.  They don't care about the country either. They just want inflated assets. Now. And if that means the US falls prey to China, then so be it. They'll all be in Switzerland closing off the passes to their mountain top bunkers.

[Redline]

12 hours ago, zydeco said:

So you favor the continued outsourcing of America to China and the concomitant rise of an American funded Chinese military and economic hegemony in Asia? And btw I think Trump will cave on the tariffs just like he does everything else. China is the one single issue he could have bipartisan support on in the US and international support. But he will give it all away with a promise from the Chinese to buy more soybeans and not to steal anymore technology. Really. All he cares about is the stock market. It's his presidential Nielsen Ratings, and a "deal" will pump the market bubble even more. Trump's narcissism will leave the US a desolated nation and economy.

Probably right, but does he ever do the right thing really?

[spidermike007]

18 hours ago, zydeco said:

So you favor the continued outsourcing of America to China and the concomitant rise of an American funded Chinese military and economic hegemony in Asia? And btw I think Trump will cave on the tariffs just like he does everything else. China is the one single issue he could have bipartisan support on in the US and international support. But he will give it all away with a promise from the Chinese to buy more soybeans and not to steal anymore technology. Really. All he cares about is the stock market. It's his presidential Nielsen Ratings, and a "deal" will pump the market bubble even more. Trump's narcissism will leave the US a desolated nation and economy.

True that. The empire is crumbling. Rather than making America great again, this neophyte is hastening the decline. 

[Credo]

Trump Trade War Helps Push Farmers Into Record Number Of Bankruptcies

Dairy farmers were counting on China milk buyers before the trade war. “The problem is both nations have stubborn leaders,” an industry analyst said.

 

Twice as many farmers in Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin declared bankruptcy last year compared to 2008, according to statistics from the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, the Journal reported.  Bankruptcies in states from North Dakota to Arkansas leaped 96 percent, according to figures from the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trade-war-record-farm-bankruptcy_us_5c611dcee4b0910c63f251ad?utm&fbclid=IwAR2k1-GV4C6A9UqWcqZiHIrcL5i_FzHm46t6zo4mleGY8GccuqDoOAMMKKk

[zydeco]

10 hours ago, Redline said:

Probably right, but does he ever do the right thing really?

When you get right down to it, no. He does do the right thing for his own ego, however, which apparently simply amounts to getting constant attention.

[zydeco]

4 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

True that. The empire is crumbling. Rather than making America great again, this neophyte is hastening the decline. 

On the road to 23 trillion in debt, now. Not to mention non governmental household debt, student loan debt, credit card debt, and most recently automobile loans now with delinquencies over 90 days--the latter being the tip of the iceberg. But who cares! Wall Street got theirs with the tax giveaway, so they can continue to inflate the market with stock buybacks.  At least until yesterday, when Rubio apparently scared them with the prospect of a change in the tax law on buybacks. Another bipartisan moment. Democrats and Republicans moving against a practice that had been illegal until 1982, because it was considered outright stock manipulation.  https://www.cnbc.com/2019/02/12/rubio-backs-new-proposal-to-tackle-stock-buybacks.html

[spidermike007]

1 hour ago, zydeco said:

On the road to 23 trillion in debt, now. Not to mention non governmental household debt, student loan debt, credit card debt, and most recently automobile loans now with delinquencies over 90 days--the latter being the tip of the iceberg. But who cares! Wall Street got theirs with the tax giveaway, so they can continue to inflate the market with stock buybacks.  At least until yesterday, when Rubio apparently scared them with the prospect of a change in the tax law on buybacks. Another bipartisan moment. Democrats and Republicans moving against a practice that had been illegal until 1982, because it was considered outright stock manipulation.  https://www.cnbc.com/2019/02/12/rubio-backs-new-proposal-to-tackle-stock-buybacks.html

 

The newly promoted crocodiles within the administration, continue to ply their trade, and put a wrecking ball to the long term economic prospects of a once great nation. Most of the members of this administration, and certainly the president, should be in prison. 

[zydeco]

13 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

Most of the members of this administration, and certainly the president, should be in prison. 

Especially when you consider that one of his major holdings is an ETF that tracks the S&P 500 and he is pushing up debt to astronomical levels just to inflate the S&P and his own wealth. This is why he will cave in to China. All he cares about is the stock market. He doesn't care about the economy at all. He leads people to believe that the markets lead the economy rather than the other way around. And with his bullying of the Fed and tax cuts for Wall Street, he's gotten away with it. Get ready for Trump to give away the store in order to sell a few more soybeans and other commodities to China. All of which will mean btw that American consumers will pay more for food, ng, oil, timber, etc.

[Basil B]

Could be the answer...

 

Let the Chinese pay for and build the Great Wall of Mexico in return for unrestricted trade with the US.

[spidermike007]

1 hour ago, Basil B said:

Could be the answer...

 

Let the Chinese pay for and build the Great Wall of Mexico in return for unrestricted trade with the US.

 

They do not need to. They have the upper hand in this battle, that was of Trump's delusional creation. They have four trillion in cash surplus. The US has nearly 30 trillion in debt, and no cash. I repeat that. No cash, other than what they print and what they borrow. China could cripple the US, overnight. Not the other way around. The US is becoming less and less relevant by the day, and Trump is precipitating that decline, with his massive tax hikes (tariffs) his inane policies, and his self created fights with our allies, and love affairs with our enemies. Donald, your time to go is fast approaching. The world waits with baited breath, for the last 22 months of your sad pseudo reign. 

[Redline]

4 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

 

The newly promoted crocodiles within the administration, continue to ply their trade, and put a wrecking ball to the long term economic prospects of a once great nation. Most of the members of this administration, and certainly the president, should be in prison. 

On the highway to hell ????????????????????

[spidermike007]

Just now, Redline said:

On the highway to hell ????????????????????

 

Delusion is a powerful force in nature. Some have it more than others. 

[Cryingdick]

On 2/12/2019 at 6:53 PM, 4MyEgo said:

Hopefully we can see some kind of normality return to the stock market from now on...lol

 

The market is normal. Have you not been paying attention to it? December was rough however if you bought straight through the volatile times into January you are sitting nicely. If you were sitting on stocks that were at all time record highs you needed to sell and take some profits. Sell some losers in December take the tax write off wait a month to wash them and then buy the same stock back at a deep discount.

 

That strategy worked very well for me and many other traders that actively follow the market. That being said the market is certainly not your Grandfather's stock market anymore. The algorithms cause huge swings. It happens to the point where many people are beginning to consider if actively managed funds are better. 

 

But since the new year the market has been one of the easiest to trade I have ever seen in my life. As Reagan said "Stocks go up stocks go down."

[FritsSikkink]

And guess who is losing the trade war (a hint, it is not China):

 

https://asia.nikkei.com/Economy/Trade-War/China-s-imports-from-US-shrank-by-record-41-in-January?utm_source=taboola&utm_medium=msn-defaulthomepage&utm_campaign=BA TH RSS&utm_term=1000422&utm_content=RSS