President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are still trying to settle on a date for further trade negotiations, contrary to rumors that a deal is near completion, according to U.S. Ambassador to China Terry Branstad.
“A date hasn’t been finalized,” Branstad said in an interview published Friday by the Wall Street Journal. “Both sides agree that there has to be significant progress, meaning a feeling that they’re very close before that happens … We’re not there yet. But we’re closer than we’ve been for a very long time.”
Branstad said that the negotiators were trying to narrow the differences between their countries’ respective positions before an official date is announced, and that the process was taking longer than previously hoped. The U.S. wants to include an enforcement mechanism in any deal that would allow it to immediately put tariffs in place should China not abide by certain terms, a demand resisted by China.
“That’s been a challenge and a problem that the Chinese did indeed retaliate,” Branstad said, referring to levies Beijing placed on U.S. products last year following the administration’s hitting China with tariffs on of 10-25 percent on $250 billion worth of goods.
Earlier in the week Trump administration officials had said that a deal was close and hinted it may be imminent.
“I think that it looks like [U.S. Trade Representative Robert] Lighthizer has made a lot of progress, and we might get there on China,” White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett told Fox Business Monday. “I think everybody’s hopeful, as the markets are, that this is going to get to the finish line sometime soon.”
[Also read: Trade deficit for 2018 rose to $621 billion, highest in 10 years, defying Trump’s promises]
