U.S. Officials Working On Trade Agreements With Chinese, Mexican Counterparts

President Donald Trump announced last Wednesday, June 11, that U.S. and Chinese negotiators have reached a tentative deal on a framework for a future trade agreement. The president indicated that, under the framework, the U.S. government would impose 55 percent tariffs on Chinese goods, while Chinese government would impose a 10 percent tariff on U.S. products. Additionally, President Trump said the framework calls for China to make it easier for U.S. companies to obtain the magnets and rare earth materials that they need to manufacture products.

The White House has not released much information beyond that component, however. In fact, as Investor’s Business Daily reported, “Details remain scarce. President Trump didn’t fully spell out what concessions the U.S. made. Beijing has not confirmed what the negotiators agreed to, and Chinese President Xi Jinping and Trump himself have yet to sign off on it.”

In other trade news: according to several news sources, U.S. and Mexican negotiators are pursuing an agreement that would end U.S. Section 232 tariffs on steel imports from Mexico.

“An industry source familiar with the talks said that a likely outcome would include a quota arrangement, under which a specified volume from Mexico could enter duty free or at a reduced rate and any imports above that level would be charged the full 50% tariff,” Reuters reported. “It was unclear whether the deal would eliminate tariffs altogether for in-quota steel import volumes from Mexico or reduce them to a lower level, the source said. The specific volume level of the quota also was not yet determined.” Stayed tuned to Connecting the Dots for more information as these stories progress.