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Trump Asks Beijing for Plan to Slash US-China Trade Deficit

by Peggy Chang

   WHITE HOUSE --

   U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted Wednesday his administration has
   asked China to come up with a plan to lower the trade deficit with the
   U.S. by $1 billion.

   Trump followed with another tweet vowing the U.S. would fight against
   intellectual property theft, although he did not directly accuse China
   of the crime.

   According to the Commerce Department, U.S.-China trade deficits rose to
   $375.2 billion in 2017, up from $347 billion in 2016.

   In an effort to avoid a possible trade war between the world's two
   largest economics, Chinese President Xi Jinping recently sent his top
   economic advisor Liu He to the White House, where he met with Trump
   administration officials to discuss trade and other issues.
   During his visit, Liu met with U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin,
   U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, and Trump's economic
   advisor Gary Cohn,who resigned Tuesday after Trump announced his plan
   to impose tariffs on foreign steel and aluminum.The outcome of that
   meeting was unclear.
   In recent months, Trump has repeatedly complained about the trade
   deficit but has said he does not blame China for it.Instead, the
   president has criticized his predecessors for agreeing to what has
   described as bad trade deals.
   In his effort to lower the trade deficit, Trump has announced a series
   of steep tariffs on imported goods this year.
   In January, Trump slapped tariffs on imported solar panels and washing
   machines, and just last week, he announced his intention to impose 25
   percent tariffs on steel imports and 10 percent tariffs on imported
   aluminum products. This announcement has drawn worldwide criticism and
   sparked fear of a possible global trade war.
   According to latest figure released by the Commerce Department on
   Wednesday, the U.S. trade deficit rose to more than nine-year high in
   January. The trade deficit rose 5 percent from 53.9 billion in December
   to $56.6 billion in January, the highest level since October 2008.
   Trade deficit with China rose 16.7 percent to $36 billion, the highest
   since September 2015.