Attention on the announcement Friday (October 11) that the U.S. and China had reached agreement on phase one of a trade deal continues to garner attention.
Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin Monday commented on the situation Monday in an interview with CNBC, telling the news service that the two sides “made substantial progress last week in the negotiations. We have a fundamental agreement, it is subject to documentation, and there is a lot of work to be done on that front.” He said the deal includes “very significant structural issues in agriculture” as well as the promise of buying up to $50 billion of U.S. commodities. China had “some concerns as to whether our farmers can meet those numbers. We think they can,” Mnuchin said. “The next phase is deputy-level calls that will be going on this week,” Mnuchin observed.
Mnuchin and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer “will have a principal-level call next week with the vice-premier. My expectation is [that] we will have the deputies meet between now and Chile, and my expectations are that we will be meeting with the vice-premier in Chile before the presidents meet to finish the deal,” the Treasury chief said.
From the Chinese side, Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told reporters that what the U.S. said is "accurate" regarding phase one of the deal and that the U.S. and China have the same understanding of the situation.
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