U.S. trade representative Jamieson Greer describes what led up to President Donald Trump's trade deal with China and responds to criticism about tariffs on 'The Ingraham Angle.' #china #trump #trade #news #tariffs #fox #lauraingraham #world #us #foxnews #market #stock
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00:00Just think of where we were a year ago.
00:03The contrast could not be clearer.
00:07And that's the angle.
00:09And now we're going to take you inside these China trade negotiations.
00:12We're joined by U.S. trade rep Jameson Greer for his first interview since returning from those high stakes meetings with Chinese officials in Geneva.
00:21Mr. Ambassador, it's great to see you. Thank you so much for joining us.
00:23Now, in the last week, we went from China not coming to the negotiating table to now getting this pause and what we hope is ultimately a real deal.
00:36And Secretary of the Treasury, Scott Besson, told us last week that this meeting was going to be about de-escalating.
00:42So take us inside and what really happened to get us to this moment.
00:49Well, thanks, Laura. It's great to be here, too.
00:52I know I'm fresh off the plane from Geneva, so I'm happy to give you insight into all of this.
00:58The first thing to understand is that there's been a lot of work behind the scenes that went on before we had these meetings,
01:04outreach, official and unofficial between the two sides as we were feeling each other out, seeing if there's a way to move forward.
01:12Remember, when President Trump declared reciprocal tariffs on April 2nd, he assigned China a tariff of 34 percent.
01:20And everyone else said that they wanted to negotiate with us.
01:24They did not retaliate or did not implement retaliation.
01:27Everyone except for China. China went ahead and they implemented 34 percent.
01:32The president needed to make sure that his action was going to work, so he had to adjust it again upwards.
01:36And then China started escalating. And so that's why we got to the point of needing to have a heart-to-heart with the Chinese side.
01:45And why we put in so much work to get there. And this weekend had a very pragmatic outcome.
01:50Well, the Global Times, which you know is the mouthpiece for the CCP, wrote today that this also shows that through the fight and talk during this period of time,
02:02the U.S. now has a deeper understanding of the correct way to deal with China.
02:09Mr. Ambassador, not only that comment, but a lot of headlines.
02:14I know you've seen them, that this constituted the administration backing away from an untenable tariff position
02:21and that you all were forced back on your heels by the Wall Street response and by the business response
02:28to what these tariffs were doing to some of their critical goods that they needed to manufacture here in the United States.
02:37Well, Laura, the critics, we keep disproving them so quickly, they just can't keep up.
02:42Remember, just like I said, the president imposed a 34 percent tariff on China originally
02:48and very quickly moved to a 10 percent pause on the world.
02:51And by the way, his entire campaign, he said he wanted to put a 10 percent global tariff on the world with higher tariffs on China, around 50, 60 percent.
03:00And guess where we are today? All in on China, it's about 50 percent and it's 10 percent all the world.
03:05So he's doing exactly what he said.
03:07The only reason that the tariffs went so sky high to begin with was because of Chinese retaliation, which was disproportionate and inappropriate.
03:15But of course, we were able to get together with the Chinese, have very clear-eyed and realistic discussions with them to get things back to where we need to go.
03:24So the president's plan is being carried out exactly how he wanted it to be.
03:27I want to get to that 50 percent and how you arrived at that in a moment.
03:30But your friend, former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, worked in Obama administration and for Clinton, of course,
03:37had some comments on CNN today about the deal. Watch.
03:40It's President Trump who blinked.
03:45China didn't make any consequential or significant change.
03:49Sometimes it's good to blink.
03:51When you make a mistake, it's usually best to correct it and retreat, even if it's a little bit embarrassing.
03:59So I applaud the actions that were taken over the weekend.
04:02I credit Secretary Besant for his leadership, which he showed over the weekend.
04:09China expert and someone you know well, Gordon Chang, also said this is essentially a win for China
04:17and that all these Chinese goods are still going to come into our country, where ours remains shut out from their markets.
04:23Mr. Ambassador, a lot of our friends are skeptical about this.
04:28I'm not trying to be a, you know, naysayer here, but what's going on?
04:33Well, again, remember, President Trump, when he imposed tariffs on the world, China just being one part of that,
04:41the intent was to have tariff levels that drive down the trade deficit.
04:46Now, remember, China really was the first target of President Trump in 2018.
04:51He imposed tariffs of about 25 percent on most goods coming in from China,
04:55including on steel and aluminum and a host of other high technology products.
05:00Those were still in place.
05:01Earlier this year, he put on tariffs of 20 percent on fentanyl.
05:06Then he put on the 34 percent.
05:09And to be clear, that 34 percent could still happen, right?
05:13China has not qualified for the pause.
05:16And so it has a 10 percent tariff and has a 90 day pause to negotiate with them.
05:20But if things don't work out, those tariffs can go back up.
05:24I think the Chinese are really focused on a deal and they want to move forward constructively.
05:28And that's why they're now able to, you know, have the 10 percent.
05:31But all these measures from before are still in place.
05:34And so you're counting those people.
05:36So you're just to be clear, you're counting.
05:38Well, they apply.
05:39You're all right.
05:40Of course, they are.
05:40You know, we support them 100, 115 percent.
05:44We support them.
05:45But you're counting that when you get to 50, you're counting the old tariffs that were in place that Biden didn't lift, correct?
05:53That's right, because we have a host of measures in place on China.
05:57That's exactly right.
05:58And so when you look at the world, President Trump has imposed significant tariffs on China, substantially more than they have.
06:06And this exercise over the past weekend was focused on that reciprocal tariff matter where the Chinese escalated so quickly and the president matched them.
06:15All the other measures, we have a lot of complaints about China.
06:18They have things we do they don't like.
06:20Those are things to discuss in the future potentially.
06:22Well, our goal is to get jobs in this country, President Trump's goal, jobs in this country and reduce that trade deficit.
06:30So that's, you know, that's what we've been focused on for I have for like 25 years.
06:34So this is what I care about deeply, deeply.
06:37Now, it's unclear, Mr. Ambassador, in the announcement today, whether China has lifted or has pledged to lift restrictions on its exports of things like rare earth magnets, other industrial goods that are essential for U.S. manufacturers to have access to.
06:57What's the story about those, because I get people keep asking me specifically about the magnets and all of those other critical materials?
07:09Yep.
07:09The Chinese, they have agreed to remove those countermeasures.
07:12So when the administration put the 34 percent on China, China retaliated with 34 percent, plus other countermeasures like the kinds you talked about.
07:22And therefore, our mission this weekend was not only to get the tariffs down to a more rational rate, but also to require the Chinese to remove their countermeasures, which they've agreed to do.
07:33And guess what?
07:33If they don't do those things, we're going to be back in a different situation.
07:36But I expect they will remove them.
07:38Were you surprised that President Trump was as optimistic about China and China living up to what it essentially has agreed to in your meetings, given kind of what China didn't follow through on with COVID?
07:53Are you surprised that the president is that optimistic?
07:57Well, no.
07:58We have a two-step here.
07:59First, we have the agreement of this weekend, which is to have them lift their tariffs and lift their countermeasures, which is something concrete, quantifiable, observable,
08:08that's going to happen this week.
08:09So that is something where we have trust.
08:13And then the next step is to enter into talks, broadly speaking, to see if they'll open up their economy.
08:19Now, on that, that is a long-term project.
08:22That's something where we've had promises before and they haven't delivered.
08:25That being said, President Trump is speaking with power and in a way that the Chinese Communist Party understands.
08:32It's not just soft words like other administrations have used.
08:35It's real power and real leverage that the president's wielding.
08:38Mr. Ambassador, you've had marathon meetings.
08:41We really appreciate you taking the time to come on tonight.
08:44These are complicated issues, and you helped clarify them.
08:47Thank you very much.
08:48Hey, Sean Hannity here.
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