Skip to main content

Trump trade crackdown 'not about China'

President Donald Trump has signed two executive orders targeting the US trade deficit, ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping's state visit.
One order includes a study looking at causes of the deficit by examining unpaid duties and foreign trade abuses.
The second will initiate a review of the American trade deficit and rules Mr Trump says harm US workers.
Administration officials said Beijing was not the focus, but China is the largest source of the US trade deficit.
President Trump signed the orders on Friday at the White House.
"We are going to get these bad trade deals straightened out," he told reporters during the signing.
"These actions are designed to let the world know that this is a president taking another step to fulfil his campaign promise," Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said on Thursday night, previewing the executive orders.
Mr Trump spent a large part of his presidential campaign railing against the US trade deficit and foreign trade deals.
Mr Ross will lead a comprehensive review accounting for the sources of the $502.3bn trade deficit and report back to the White House after 90 days.
The study will look at whether cheating, trade deals, lax enforcement and World Trade Organization rules play a role in the deficit, according to Mr Ross.
The orders also will focus on stricter enforcement of the US anti-dumping laws and countervailing duties, or the penalties imposed on foreign governments who violate trade rules, as well as pirated and counterfeited intellectual property owned by US companies.
The pair of orders come one week before Mr Trump meets the Chinese president at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
Director of the White House National Trade Council Peter Navarro told reporters that the orders had nothing to do with Mr Xi's visit.
But China is the source of America's highest trade deficit, at $347bn a year.
"Nothing we're saying tonight is about China. Let's not make this a China story. This is a story about trade abuses, this is a story about an under-collection of duties," Mr Navarro said.
Mr Trump tweeted on Thursday night that his first meeting with Mr Xi would "be a very difficult one in that we can no longer have massive trade deficits...and job losses".
"American companies must be prepared to look at other alternatives," he added.
The half trillion-dollar deficit slightly increased from 2015, according to the Commerce Department.
The trade gap reached a record level since 2012 last year, though the imbalance remains below its previous high in 2006.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

We Don’t Know The Real Age of Nigerian Players - Rohr

Head coach of the Super Eagles, Gernot Rohr, has admitted he is not comfortable with the age factor of players based in the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL). Rohr revealed that it is the reason he hardly invites them to the national team. “There is an existing problem with Nigeria based players. We cannot tell their real age,” he said in an interview with Brila FM. Goalkeeper Ikechukwu Ezenwa was the only home-based player invited by Rohr, for the recent games against Algeria and Senegal. The former Gabon and Burkina Faso coach, has however stated that the door is not closed on the best players in the NPFL.
Post a Comment
Read more

Kenny Baker, actor behind R2-D2, dies

The 3ft 8in actor, who starred in six Star Wars films as well as Time Bandits and Flash Gordon, was 81 The British actor who played R2-D2 in the Star Wars films has died at the age of 81 after a long illness. Kenny Baker, who was 3ft 8in tall, shot to fame in 1977 when he first played the robot character. Meeting Kenny Baker, the real-live human behind R2-D2 He went on to play the character in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, as well as the three Star Wars prequels from 1999 to 2005. He also appeared in a number of other much loved films in the 1980s, including The Elephant Man, Time Bandits and Flash Gordon. His niece, Abigail Shield, paid tribute to her uncle. She told the Guardian: “It was expected, but it’s sad nonetheless. He had a very long and fulfilled life. He brought lots of happiness to people and we’ll be celebrating the fact that he was well loved throughout the world. We’re all very proud of what he achieved in his lifetime.” Baker and Shiel...
Post a Comment
Read more

Comedian Basketmouth robbed in his Lekki home

Basketmouth Famous Nigerian stand-up comedian, Bright Okpocha popularly known as Basketmouth and his family were in the early hours of this morning robbed at their Lekki home at gunpoint. His close friend and colleague, comedian Bovi took to his Instagram page to say that Basketmouth and family are safe and unhurt after the robber’s invasion. According to Bovi, the bandits carted away valuables and the security footage. See his post below:
Post a Comment
Read more