China trade commitments will begin 'immediately': Larry Kudlow
Top White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow said President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping had “good chemistry” during Saturday night’s two hour dinner meeting where instant progress was made.
“President Xi and Vice Premier Liu He said to us their commitments will begin immediately,” Kudlow told FOX Business’ Stuart Varney on Monday.
The meeting, which took place on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Buenos Aires, resulted in a range of “Chinese commitments,” including a 90-day trade truce that would resolve top trade issues ranging from forced technology transfers, intellectual property protection, non-tariff barriers, cyber theft and agriculture practices.
Kudlow said “we won’t cover everything” in 90 days but many items that are being negotiated on will be seen “pretty fast.”
“These are private sector purchases where tariff rates will be lowered and also non-tariff barriers will be lowered with respect to American ownership, for example, with respect to technology transfers, with respect to IP,” he said. “Those things should kick in soon—we should see palpable changes on the Chinese side immediately to quote Mr. Liu He.”
The U.S. says that the Chinese will be buying more agriculture products in the interim, however if the U.S. and China fail to reach an agreement an additional 25 percent tariff on $200 billion worth of goods would be implemented on Jan. 1 2019.
Kudlow added that if China opens its markets, the United States will increase exports “substantially.”
The United States and China are the world’s two largest economies and have been battling over trade practices for months.