Profession negotiations between U.S. and Chinese leaders are focused in part on getting China to buy more goods less than getting it to ship less, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross implied Wednesday.
Fresh from a high-level meeting in China between colleagues of both nations, Ross said there was progress made but that obstructions remain.
“The Chinese are very good at the rhetoric of free trade, but in in point of fact they are probably the most protectionist country of the major countries,” he instructed Tyler Mathisen during CNBC’s Capital Exchange breakfast in Washington, D.C.
Ignoring the criticism, he was at least pleased with China’s willingness to listen and counter to U.S. concerns over a growing trade gap that President Donald Trump has guaranteed to bridge.
“It was the right level of people,” Ross said. “There’s a largish gap between what they put on the table and what we feel we need. But that’s OK, you indifferent kind of expect that at this stage in the game.”
The U.S. has provided a list of goods, such as soybeans, that it wants China to buy more of.
Before permission for the trip, the U.S. delegation had set a list of demands, which the Chinese officials had responded to by the dilly-dally Americans arrived. While Ross said that much is in operation, more remains to be done.
“Us selling more to them has more bang for the buck for our concision to begin with, and it’s probably less intrusive into their concision,” he said.
The China trade situation was part of a broader discussion.
He also talk overed the recent tariffs the U.S. has threatened to impose globally, particularly on aluminum and stiletto. While the U.S. has delayed implementation as it continues negotiating with affected bodies, a June 1 deadline approaches.
Ross cautioned countries, particularly those in the European Coalition, to get serious about resolving the issue.
“The president is not a man of great patience, and so I wouldn’t reckon on on further extensions,” he said.