The White House press office said late Monday afternoon that the agreed-on deadline for a new round of trade talks with China was 90 days after Dec. 1, correcting an earlier statement from economic adviser Larry Kudlow that the window began Jan. 1.
The press office sent out a revised transcript of Kudlow’s earlier comments, which were delivered on a phone call with reporters, several hours after they were made and disseminated through the press. The Trump administration has said that the 90-day time frame will allow for continuing trade talks between the two countries and that Trump will raise existing tariffs at the end of it if China doesn’t accede to U.S. demands.
“Well, on the tariff raise, the President has said 90 days beginning January 1st, which is when it was going to go — the 10 to 25 was going to go into effect. So that’s his — that’s the policy,” Kudlow told reporters earlier in the day.
The announcement significantly shortens the amount of time the administration and China will have to reach a deal, chopping out a month of negotiating time.
The deal that President Trump struck with Chinese President Xi Jinping during the G-20 summit in Argentina Saturday night included temporarily holding off on a scheduled increase on tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese goods from 10 percent to 25 percent, previously set to take effect Jan. 1. In exchange China made agreements to purchase an estimated $1.2 trillion in U.S. goods, the administration said.
Following Saturday’s deal, White House issued a statement that night saying, “Both parties agree that they will endeavor to have this transaction completed within the next 90 days. If at the end of this period of time, the parties are unable to reach an agreement, the 10 percent tariffs will be raised to 25 percent.” The White House’s clarification means that the clock started ticking the moment the deal was reached.
