US Seeks Steady Trade with China, Not Conflict
US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer stated that the US is prioritizing a stable trade dynamic with China, even in light of a push from some allies for coordinated action against Beijing. “I don’t think anyone wants to have a full-on economic conflict with China and we’re not having that,” Greer stated Thursday at the American Growth Summit in Washington. “In fact, President Trump has had the opportunity to use all the leverage we have against China — and we’ve had a lot, right — whether it comes to software, semiconductors or all kinds of things. A lot of allies are interested in taking coordinated action, but the decision right now is we want to have stability in this relationship.”
Greer asserted that the US trade deficit with China has decreased “about 25 per cent” since President Donald Trump took office, indicating a shift in the “right direction” for a team aiming to balance the flow of goods. Simultaneously, he recognized that Chinese products continued to enter the US market, including through transshipment via other countries. “For this moment in time, we want to make sure that China is buying the kinds of things from us we should be selling them: aircraft, chemicals, medical devices and agricultural products,” he stated. “We can purchase items from them that are not sensitive.”
In late October, Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping reached an agreement that involved extending a tariff truce, rolling back export controls, and reducing various trade barriers. Some key elements of the deal — including the sale of the US operations of social video app TikTok, expanded soybean purchases, and an increase in licenses to export critical rare earths from China — remain works in progress. Greer stated that the US was observing the relationship “literally on a daily basis.”
“We have to get our own house in order,” Greer stated. “We need to make sure that we are on a good path to reindustrialization, including for critical minerals.”
