US officials have denied that Steven Mnuchin, the US Treasury secretary, had recommended pre-emptively lifting tariffs on Chinese imports to give more room for Beijing to make concessions on structural reforms.
The Wall Street Journal on Thursday reported that Mr Mnuchin had proposed the idea of scrapping some or all of the levies at the heart of the trade war with China in a series of strategy sessions ahead of a visit to Washington later this month by Liu He, China’s top economic official. Mr Mnuchin’s idea was however opposed by hardliners in the administration, including Robert Lighthizer, the US trade representative leading the talks, the WSJ reported.
The report led to a jump in US equity markets, but was quickly denied by senior Trump administration officials. “Neither Secretary Mnuchin nor Ambassador Lighthizer have made any recommendations to anyone with respect to tariffs or other parts of the negotiation with China. This an ongoing process with the Chinese that is nowhere near completion,” a Treasury department spokesman said.