Manufacturers Preparing for 'Big Announcement' in US-China Trade Talks
American manufacturers expect a trade deal between the U.S. and China to be announced within “the next couple of weeks” but think tariffs on Chinese goods will likely remain in place for longer, said Ryan Ong, director of international economic affairs policy for the National Association of Manufacturers. Ong, speaking at an export controls and customs information session at KPMG offices in Washington on March 6, said the increasingly “intense negotiations” between the U.S. and China during the last few months suggest a deal is close.
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“The signals here are increasingly pointing to a potential deal between the two sides,” Ong said. “We’re looking to prepare ... for potentially a big announcement.” But while Ong said he thinks the two sides are close to a deal, he said manufacturers are still unsure about what the actual agreement will look like. Ong pointed to three main targets the U.S. is trying to reach: increased Chinese purchases of U.S. goods, “structural issues that the U.S. laid out in the 301 investigation” and “tangible enforcement mechanisms.” The last one is “probably the stickiest of the three,” Ong said. “What happens if the Chinese are not meeting their commitments? What does that look like?”
Ong added that one of the major concerns for American businesses and manufacturers is whether negotiations will include deep, concrete changes or whether the talks will end with surface-level agreements. If President Donald Trump finalizes a deal that primarily involves China purchasing more U.S. goods but does not include larger structural changes, “there will be significant criticism” from “both sides of the isle,” Ong said. “Frankly, for all the chaos we've had to live through, for all the operational replanning we had to do, if we’re gonna have to have lived through that, it needs to be worth it."