Politico | Donald Trump’s team rushes to find escape hatch for China tariffs as trade war goes on
- Hoping to avoid further economic damage, US president’s top advisers are trying to resurrect terms they were previously negotiating with Beijing
- Goal is to forestall October tariff increases and next round of tariffs expected to take effect in December
This story is published in a content partnership with POLITICO. It was originally reported by Ben White and Adam Behsudi on politico.com on September 12, 2019.
US President Donald Trump’s top advisers are rushing to find an escape hatch for a series of tariff increases in the coming months, worried about the potential for further economic damage.
Many of the president’s top economic officials are trying to resurrect the terms they previously were negotiating with China, a deal officials said was “90 per cent” done before a sudden impasse this summer, according to a person familiar with the discussions.
That approach was rejected by the Chinese at the time, so it is unclear whether the new effort will overcome those hurdles and deliver US-sought commitments from China on agriculture, intellectual property and technology transfer.
The goal of the internal administration discussions is to forestall October tariff increases and the next tariffs set to take effect in December, with some advisers arguing that the economic hit is real and must be mitigated before the election year. But the discussions remain fluid and Trump has yet to endorse an approach.