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Trump desperate for trade deal with China: Ex-aide
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IANS | 14 Mar, 2019
US President Donald Trump is "desperate" to reach a trade deal with
China and is being ill-served by protectionist advisers who have left
the White House "living in chaos" on major decisions, his former top
economic adviser Gary Cohn has said.
In an interview to
Freakonomics, a public radio show and podcast, the former President of
Goldman Sachs said that the US President "needs a win" and expects a
China deal to boost the stock market, which has treaded water for the
past year.
Cohn, 58, served for 14 months as Trump's Director of
the National Economic Council. His comments came after the President
said at the White House on Wednesday that he was "not in a hurry" to
reach a deal with Beijing and said "there's always a chance" the talks
could fail.
The President, however, expressed an eagerness to
host a signing summit at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida for Chinese
President Xi Jinping, the Washington Post reported.
Trump had in
February expressed optimism about the prospects for a trade agreement
with China after he delayed a scheduled increase in tariffs on Chinese
imports.
He said he was delaying an increase from 10 per cent to
25 per cent in the tariffs his administration levied earlier on $200
million in Chinese products. The hike was scheduled to take effect from
March 1.
Cohn cast doubt on Trump's ability to obtain fundamental
changes in China's state-led economic system, one of his core
negotiating objectives.
"I think market access, the Chinese will
give because they've been close to giving it for a while. But how are we
going to stop the Chinese from stealing intellectual property?" he
said.
"How are we going to stop them from copyright
infringement? What is the enforcement mechanism and what are the
punitive damages if they don't stop?"
The US has proposed
enforcing any agreement via 18 annual meetings with Chinese officials,
backed by the threat of unilateral American tariffs, according to chief
US trade negotiator Robert E. Lighthizer.
Senate Minority Leader
Charles Schumer said that Trump should "have the guts to walk away" if
the Chinese don't offer significant concessions.
A self-described
"globalist" in a nationalist White House, Cohn argued against the
President's enthusiasm for imposing tariffs on products such as solar
panels and steel, according to the Post.
But he said he was
bested by White House adviser Peter Navarro and Commerce Secretary
Wilbur Ross, the administration's leading protectionists.
Cohn resigned in March 2018, shortly after Trump announced 25 per cent tariffs on imported steel and aluminum.
He
said he supported the President's desire to crack down on unfair
Chinese trade practices, but said tariffs "don't work". As evidence, he
pointed to last year's record $891 billion trade deficit in merchandise
and the record $419 billion gap in trade with China, the Post said.
"So tariffs were used as the threat. Did it hurt the Chinese at all? We had record trade deficits," Cohn said.
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| Customs Exchange Rates |
| Currency |
Import |
Export |
US Dollar
|
66.20
|
64.50 |
UK Pound
|
87.50
|
84.65 |
Euro
|
78.25
|
75.65 |
| Japanese
Yen |
58.85 |
56.85 |
| As on 19 Nov, 2019 |
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| Daily Poll |
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| Ease of doing business improved in last one year |
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