China Trade Deal: Commerce Secretary Ross Breaks Down What to Know

U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said Sunday the most important parts of the new U.S. trade agreement with China are the deals on beef and liquefied natural gas (LNG).

“With the rising standards of living there [China], it’s pretty clear that this already big $2.5 billion market could grow very rapidly,” Ross said during an interview with Maria Bartiromo on “Sunday Morning Futures.” “We finally have gotten them to agree to a precise date to which the beef imports into China would start from America. So the American livestock industry is quite thrilled with that.”

In March, the U.S. supplied 7 percent of China’s imported LNG, according to trade data. Ross explained the significance of exporting the product to China.

“LNG prices have been very depressed in the U.S.,” the commerce secretary said. “But, now we’re opening it up that there could be even long-term contracts to supply China. And China is the world’s largest consumer of LNG and the world’s largest importer … the idea of having big, long-term contracts is very, very attractive to our industry.”

Additionally, he explained the strategy behind creating the trade deal.

“The strategy here was to get a few quick kills; a few tangible, deliverable items that could be done quickly—make sure that there was actual performance on them … assuming that those are delivered, then we’ll go into a one-year program of negotiations. If that produces more deliverables, we’ll go into a longer-term period of negotiations,” Ross said.