Trump irked by China's behavior during latest trade talks
President Donald Trump wasn’t happy when he heard how his U.S. trade delegation was treated during the most recent talks in Shanghai.
Sources tell FOX Business the Chinese walked into the 12th round of face to face talks not prepared to make any moves and instead used hardball tactics. They wanted to let the newest members of their trade team, including Commerce Minister Zhong Shan, ask U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer line-by-line questions about the agreement on the table.
Lighthizer, along with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, left Shanghai this week slightly earlier than expected.
Top White House Advisor Larry Kudlow, speaking on FOX Business' "Varney & Co", acknowledged that Trump was "not satisfied" with the outcome of the talks and noted the Chinese are not addressing the fentanyl trade problem, among other issues.
Furthermore, these trade sources say China refused to add back any of the concessions that Lighthizer reportedly removed in the latest draft of the agreement. China also declined to change the text or country laws and made it clear they do not want any enforcement language in an agreement. Additionally, the Chinese asked the US Trade team to trust them to protect intellectual property. IP theft by the Chinese is among the top hot button issues the U.S. wants to crack down on.
Following the briefing, Trump set a September 1st deadline for tariffs on about everything else China imports into the United States. He’ll implement 10 percent tariffs on an additional $300 billion worth of goods coming into the U.S. from China. “I did more than anybody thought with the first 250 billion...and the 10 percent is for a short term period...and then I could always do much more or I could do less..depending on what happens with respect to a deal... But in the meantime...we're gonna...they're gonna pay a tariff," warned Trump.
U.S. stocks fell for a second session on Friday after the Dow Jones Industrial Average tanked over 500 points before rebounding to end the session with a 280 point deficit on news of the latest tariffs.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I:DJI | DOW JONES AVERAGES | 43870.35 | +461.88 | +1.06% |
| SP500 | S&P 500 | 5948.71 | +31.60 | +0.53% |
| I:COMP | NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX | 18972.420086 | +6.28 | +0.03% |
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Chinese sources also tell FOX Business that they are not stalling on trade until the 2020 election to see if President Trump wins. The sources say they see any Democrat just as bad for China because the party may want to interfere in Hong Kong and make closer ties with Taiwan. Chinese Departments have been advised to “pull away” from the U.S altogether. [not sure what this means? What departments?]
FOX Business' Suzanne O'Halloran contributed to this report.