One of the key issues that will be discussed between U.S. and China officials at this week’s G-20 summit in Japan is getting a balanced deal.
China believes any new agreement will need to be evenhanded, while U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer told his Chinese counterparts that balance won’t happen, according to CNBC’s Kayla Tausche, citing a person with knowledge of the White House position.
The reason why the U.S. will not prioritize balance is because of China’s past trade transgressions. Among other things, China has been accused of stealing U.S. technology.
President Donald Trump has targeted China for tariffs as he seeks level ground and to reduce the deficit the U.S. has consistently run in trade between the two sides. The deficit in 2018 stood at $419.5 billion and was already at $106.9 billion through the first four months of 2019, according to Census Bureau data.
Trump said Wednesday he would like to see a deal but is content with where things are now. “They want a deal more than I do,” he told Fox Business Network.
The U.S. has levied 25% tariffs on $250 billion worth of Chinese goods and has threatened to put additional duties on the remaining $300 billion of imports.
Chinese officials have hopes that they can get some of their issues resolved since Trump has tightened the clamps on the trade issue. Among their priorities will be a lifting of the ban on the sale of U.S. technology to Huawei Technologies and to get all current tariffs dropped, CNBC has confirmed.
Trump is being joined in Osaka by multiple members of his trade team, including Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and economic advisor Peter Navarro, who has pushed for an aggressive posture with China, Tausche reported, adding that the key deputies have reached out to their Chinese counterparts.