US economy

Officials deny report Mnuchin proposed lifting China tariffs


US officials have denied that Steven Mnuchin, the US Treasury secretary, had recommended pre-emptively lifting tariffs on Chinese imports to give more room for Beijing to make concessions on structural reforms.

The Wall Street Journal on Thursday reported that Mr Mnuchin had proposed the idea of scrapping some or all of the levies at the heart of the trade war with China in a series of strategy sessions ahead of a visit to Washington later this month by Liu He, China’s top economic official. Mr Mnuchin’s idea was however opposed by hardliners in the administration, including Robert Lighthizer, the US trade representative leading the talks, the WSJ reported.

The report led to a jump in US equity markets, but was quickly denied by senior Trump administration officials. “Neither Secretary Mnuchin nor Ambassador Lighthizer have made any recommendations to anyone with respect to tariffs or other parts of the negotiation with China. This an ongoing process with the Chinese that is nowhere near completion,” a Treasury department spokesman said.

A White House official added: “No new tariff decisions have been made. We are focused on the current 90 day period and the expected high level visit by China Vice Premier Liu He at the end of this month.”

In December, US president Donald Trump and Chinese president Xi Jinping struck a truce agreement on the margins of the G20 summit in Argentina, giving themselves three months to negotiate a comprehensive deal.

Although talks since then have made some progress in terms of providing for more Chinese purchases of US goods, the thornier issues involving US demands of structural changes to Chinese economic policies like the forced transfer of technologies and industrial subsidies have yet to be resolved.

Earlier this month, Jeff Gerrish, the deputy US trade representative, led a delegation of officials to Beijing for talks, with the next big negotiating session set for the end of the month with Mr Liu’s arrival in Washington.



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