China a 'longer-term problem,' USTR Robert Lighthizer says

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said Thursday that the White House did not expect to resolve its ongoing trade disputes with China in the foreseeable future, indicating that the tariffs against that country and its retaliatory ones against the U.S. could last for a while.

“China is going to be a longer-term problem. That isn’t to say we are going to be in a trade war with China in my judgment,” Lighthizer told the Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday. Lighthizer was responding to questions from Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va.