3 days ago
China negotiations are 'high priority' for the Trump admin.
Tensions are rising as the US and China's trade accusations over trade practices and access to critical minerals mount.
Timothy Brightbill, partner at Wiley Rein, joins Catalysts to explain what's driving the latest tariff standoff and where negotiations could head next.
To watch more expert insights and analysis on the latest market action, check out more Catalysts here.
Talk to me about this tit-for-tat between the US and China both accusing each other of the same thing. Is there any merit to that? Is this just negotiation in the art of the deal? Where does this sit with you?
Uh, thanks for having me this morning, Madison. There, I think, uh, there's, uh, there are things going on on both sides here. Uh, the United States and China, uh, both are have some accurate statements that they've made. The Trump administration is clearly frustrated with China, uh, that it's not living up to the May 12th agreement, and in particular, that it's slowing down access to rare earth magnets and other critical minerals, which are needed for so many different segments of manufacturing. Uh, now MOFCOM, of course, has pushed back and said that it's the United States that is escalating the situation, uh, first with restrictions on the sale of chip design software to China, and then also some of the other issues, such as the announcement to revoke visas of Chinese students. So, I think, uh, both sides make some valid claims. It's mostly negotiations, but we do want to see these discussions move forward, um, given the size of the tariffs that have been suspended between the two countries.
And talk to me about what that looks like. What would be the impetus to make these negotiations move forward? Are you seeing any signals of further discussions happening?
I think both sides are very interested. So, uh, yes, I think there are signals of more discussions. Uh, there will be other opportunities going on. There is an OECD meeting this week. Uh, this is a high priority for the administration, for Ambassador Greer, um, but there's a lot of ground to cover and a lot of very hot button issues between the two countries. So, not clear how how quickly it will be resolved.
