Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Wednesday that the U.S. and China had agreed on an enforcement mechanism as part of a trade deal between the two countries, resolving one of the major conflicts in the ongoing negotiations.
Mnuchin said, however, that other issues remained outstanding and did not indicate that an announcement of a full deal was imminent.
“We’ve pretty much agreed on an enforcement mechanism,” Mnuchin told CNBC. “We’ve agreed that both sides will establish enforcement offices that will deal with the ongoing matters. This is something both sides are taking very seriously.”
Mnuchin indicated that the deal had been reached Tuesday evening, when he and U.S. Trade Ambassador Robert Lighthizer held a teleconference with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He.
“It was very productive … We went into late last night, and we have another call scheduled for tomorrow morning,” Mnuchin said. “We still have some important issues to address, but both sides are working very hard on this agreement.”
Mnuchin declined to go into details on the how the mechanism would work beyond the creation of enforcement offices. The U.S. has sought one where it could place tariffs on China for violating terms of the deal without being hit by retaliatory tariffs by China. Beijing has sought to have the administration lift the $250 billion in tariffs on Chinese goods it has enacted, a move the administration has resisted.
“President Trump has been very clear we must have the right deal… We are hopeful we can do this quickly, but we are not going to set an arbitrary deadline,” Mnuchin said. President Trump said last week that he expected a deal by late April, if one would happen at all.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, was cautiously optimistic regarding the news. “I feel very good, if that information is accurate. There’s only one caveat I’d put on the statement: Mnuchin making the statement instead of [U.S. Trade Representative Robert] Lighthizer making the statement. Mnuchin’s a little softer on trade issues with China than Lighthizer is, but they’re a team so maybe they’re on the same page,” Grassley told reporters.
[Opinion: The opportunity for a Chinese trade deal is there, if Trump can seize it]
