WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. trade deal with China is not only completely intact, but Beijing has taken a constructive step forward in several areas, a senior White House adviser said Tuesday.
FILE PHOTO: White House National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow speaks in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, USA. USA, April 7, 2020. REUTERS / Kevin Lamarque / File Photo
“They really have gotten back into their game,” Larry Kudlow, director of the National Economic Council, told the Fox Business Network.
“It is not just about buying basic products, although that is also recovering,” but it also extends to the issue of theft of intellectual property, which has long been one of the weak points of the relationship, he said.
Kudlow’s comments marked the latest in a series of damage control efforts by the Trump administration after White House trade adviser Peter Navarro said Monday night that the deal had “ended.”
Navarro, who made the comment in an interview with the Fox News Channel, later withdrew it, issuing a statement saying his comments were taken “out of context.”
Trump later tweeted that the deal was “completely intact.”
Navarro’s comments pushed down US equity futures, while risk-sensitive currencies, including the Australian dollar, fell.
“I think he spoke badly,” said Kudlow. “The commercial agreement is underway. No doubt about it.
After more than two years of intermittent talks and nearly two years of eye-for-an-eye tariffs, the two nations reached a so-called Phase 1 trade deal under which China promised to boost purchases of US goods by $ 200 billion. above two years.
That goal has been jeopardized by global disruptions to the coronavirus epidemic.
Report by Tim Ahmann; Edition of Doina Chiacu and Sandra Maler
.
