Tariffs to be imposed by December 15 in case of no-deal: US Treasury to China
US Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin
The USTreasurySecretaryStevenMnuchinsaid on Monday that an additional round oftariffson Chinese imports will likely beimposedif atradedealwithChinahas not been reached by then, but added that he expected the agreement to go through.
"I have every expectation - if there's not adeal, thosetariffswould go in place - but I expect we'll have adeal," he said in an interview with CNBC when asked about a round oftariffsscheduled forDecember15.
USPresident Donald Trump said on Friday thatChinaand the United States had reached the first phase of atradedealthat covered agriculture, currency and some aspects of intellectual property protections, and would ease the reciprocaltraderestrictions that the world's two largest economies have been imposing for15months.
But officials on both sides have said more work is needed to finalize the accord, and Trump acknowledged the agreement could still collapse.USTradeRepresentative Lighthizer said on Friday that Trump had not made adecision about theDecembertariffs.
Mnuchinsaid moretradenegotiations at various levels would take place over the coming weeks, including a phone call between himself, Lighthizer and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, and talks between Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
Asked about a dispute betweenChinaand theUSNational Basketball Association stemming from a tweet by Houston Rockets manager Daryl Morey expressing support for pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong,Mnuchinsaid he hoped the two sides could come to a solution.