Trump officials say they are reviewing China’s compliance with trade deal
The nominee for US Treasury secretary said last week that Trump would use the 2020 phase one agreement as a starting point with Beijing.
Five days into the new administration, the White House announced on Friday that it was conducting a “compliance review” of what it termed the “Economic and Trade Agreement” between China and the United States.
A statement by the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) said the intent was to determine if China is “acting in accordance with the commitments it made in the agreement”.
It added that the review followed from President Donald Trump’s “America first trade policy”, one of scores of executive orders and memos signed on Monday immediately after his inauguration.
The president’s nominee for Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, told the US Senate during confirmation hearings last week that Trump would use the phase one trade agreement that he signed in January 2020, during his first term in the Oval Office, as a starting point in trade relations with Beijing.
In addition, Trump’s pick for US trade representative, Jamieson Greer, took part in all negotiations involving the phase one deal when he was USTR chief of staff.
Greer, a trade lawyer, was also closely involved in Trump’s original move to apply US$370 billion in tariffs on Chinese imports. In tapping him in November, Trump said Greer “played a key role during my first term in imposing tariffs on China and others to combat unfair trade practices”.