Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Monday that elements of last week’s announced “phase one” trade deal with China still need to be worked out.
He said plans for 15% tariffs on a further $80 billion in Chinese goods scheduled for Dec. 15 could still happen if the White House believes that Beijing is not abiding by the agreement.
“I have every expectation if there’s not a deal those tariffs would go in place, but I expect we’ll have a deal,” Mnuchin told CNBC Monday.
The Trump administration and Beijing reached a partial trade deal Friday. The “phase one” of the deal involves China making additional purchases of U.S. farm goods while the White House stops a tariff hike to 30%, up from 25%, on $250 billion worth of Chinese goods previously scheduled to go into effect Tuesday.
[Related: Stocks jump as Trump announces partial trade pact with China]
Mnuchin said that China’s promised agricultural purchases did not involve making immediate buys and that the actual amount was not clearly defined. “Its $40-50 billion. That is the range we expect. There is some scaling up to get there,” he said.
The Treasury secretary said that both sides had worked on an extensive process for the deal’s enforcement but “there are still a few words that need to be worked out.”
