Commerce Secretary Casts Doubt on Finishing NAFTA, China Trade Negotiations Soon

Echoing U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said that if a deal isn't reached in the next few weeks, NAFTA 2.0 won't be finished in 2018 -- but unlike the lead negotiator, Ross suggested there may be no revised agreement (see 1805010042). "If we don’t see progress soon, probably we won’t see it for quite a little while toward the end of the year, if at all," he said May 8 at an international conference.

When asked by John Negroponte, former deputy secretary of state, about the state of China-U.S. negotiations to avoid Section 301 tariffs, Ross referred to the eight-page document laying out U.S. demands, and the Chinese list in response (see 1805040044). "There is a considerable gap remaining even though we spent a total of about 30 hours in very high level discussions with them," he said. "The good news is there is a meaningful, very high-level, very detailed dialogue. The bad news is, we're pretty far apart at this point in time."

China's top economic adviser is planning a trip to Washington next week to continue the discussions, the White House has said. China's President Xi Jinping and Trump spoke on the phone May 8. According to the brief White House summary of the call, "President Trump affirmed his commitment to ensuring that the trade and investment relationship between the United States and China is balanced and benefits American businesses and workers." From China's perspective, as reflected in the official Xinhua news agency report, Xi told Trump the two sides should keep talking "to try to find a way to properly solve their trade issue and achieve mutually beneficial and win-win results."