This morning Trump has been tweeting about China and the good deal he’s gotten for farmers.
He started out by hammering Obama and the Democrats for not doing anything about China, calling Chuck Schumer by name:
I ask Senator Chuck Schumer, why didn’t President Obama & the Democrats do something about Trade with China, including Theft of Intellectual Property etc.? They did NOTHING! With that being said, Chuck & I have long agreed on this issue! Fair Trade, plus, with China will happen!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 21, 2018
He then says China has agreed to a new deal with the US that will help farmers:
China has agreed to buy massive amounts of ADDITIONAL Farm/Agricultural Products - would be one of the best things to happen to our farmers in many years!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 21, 2018
Under our potential deal with China, they will purchase from our Great American Farmers practically as much as our Farmers can produce.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 21, 2018
On China, Barriers and Tariffs to come down for first time.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 21, 2018
He then says China must continue to be tough on N. Korea until deal is made:
China must continue to be strong & tight on the Border of North Korea until a deal is made. The word is that recently the Border has become much more porous and more has been filtering in. I want this to happen, and North Korea to be VERY successful, but only after signing!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 21, 2018
On Saturday the US agreed to put its trade war with China on hold in light of a new deal with China that is supposed to reduce our trade deficit:
“We’re putting the trade war on hold,” Mnuchin told “Fox News Sunday.” “Right now, we have agreed to put tariffs on hold while we try to execute the framework.”
After rounds of trade talks with China, Mnuchin said: “We have an agreement with China that they will substantially agree to it.”
The secretary declined to say whether the agreement sets a specific target of $200 billion to reduce the trade deficit, but he said the deal has goals for each industry.
“We are immediately going to follow this up with [Commerce] Secretary [Wilbur] Ross going there with very hard commitments in agriculture, where we expect to see a very big increase – 35-40 percent increases – in agriculture this year alone,” Mnuchin said.
“In energy, doubling the energy purchases. I think that you could see $50, $60 billion a year of energy purchases over the next three to five years. And strategically, that’s very important for us and very important for them.”