Trade talks: China to substantially reduce U.S. trade deficit

A U.S. – China trade delegates met in Washington, D.C. and agreed that China would take “effective measures to substantially reduce the United States trade deficit” with the large Asian nation.

“To meet the growing consumption needs of the Chinese people and the need for high-quality economic development, China will significantly increase purchases of United States goods and services. This will help support growth and employment in the United States,” the White House said in a statement.

The agreements will increase agricultural and energy exports from the United States and China also agreed to increase intellectual property protections by advancing amendments to its laws and regulations, including Patent Law.

The meeting was put together at the direction of President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping. The U.S. delegation included Secretary of the Treasury Steven T. Mnuchin, Secretary of Commerce Wilbur L. Ross, and United States Trade Representative Robert E. Lighthizer and the Chinese delegation was led by State Council Vice Premier Liu He, Special Envoy of President Xi.

Trump has been terminating multi-national trade deals that don’t favor the United States in favor of direct, bilateral agreements between the U.S. and other countries. Trump pulled out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and has threatened to leave the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) if terms more favorable to the U.S. can’t be reached.

“President Trump is renegotiating trade deals and international agreements that have not provided the expected benefits to the United States,” the White House said in a statement. “The President is also seeking new deals to open markets for U.S. exports and reshaping international institutions to serve the interests of U.S. workers.”

The Trump administration conducted 82 major anti-dumping and countervailing duties investigations in 2017 which represented a 58% increase over the prior year. Many of the investigations resulted in import duties or domestic subsidies to address dumping.

“America has also finally turned the page on decades of unfair trade deals that sacrificed our prosperity and shipped away our companies, our jobs, and our Nation’s wealth,” Trump said in January after signing a set of safeguards that provided relief to U.S. manufacturers injured by surging imports of washing machines and solar products. Shortly after the announcement, Whirlpool announced the hiring of an additional 200 workers in Ohio.

The president has personally been involved with deals worth over $110 billion to the U.S. manufacturers.