President Donald Trump on Friday said that he has asked China to “immediately remove all tariffs” on U.S. agricultural products, in return for his decision to postpone a March 1 deadline that would have raised U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports.
Doing so would involve China lifting tariffs on U.S. products including beef and pork, Trump said in a pair of tweets Friday evening.
Trump made the request “based on the fact that we are moving along nicely with trade discussions,” he said.
On Sunday, Trump announced that he would delay the additional tariffs that were scheduled to go into effect at the beginning of March. The president has not announced a new deadline for that round of tariffs on Chinese goods.
Trump also said Sunday that if more progress is made toward a resolution of the long-running trade negotiations between the two countries, Chinese President Xi Jinping would be invited to a summit at Trump’s Florida golf course, Mar-a-Lago, to “conclude an agreement.”
Trump’s top economic advisor, Larry Kudlow, painted a rosy picture of the ongoing trade negotiations in an interview with CNBC on Thursday.
“The progress has been terrific,” Kudlow said, while adding that “we have to hear from the Chinese side. We have to hear from President Xi Jinping, of course. I think we’re headed for a remarkable, historic deal.”
A day before Kudlow’s interview, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer gave a more cautious outlook in testimony before Congress.
“Much still needs to be done both before an agreement is reached,” Lighthizer testified, “and, more importantly, after it is reached, if one is reached.”
