U.S. Commerce Consultant Jamieson Greer mentioned Monday that China’s willingness to carry commerce talks with the USA this week is a “good signal,” however he isn’t anticipating any “monumental breakthrough.”
“I do not anticipate some form of monumental breakthrough at the moment, what I anticipate is sustained monitoring and checking in on the implementation of our settlement so far,” Greer mentioned on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”
His feedback come as prime officers from President Donald Trump’s administration meet in Sweden with their Chinese language counterparts for the third spherical of commerce talks since Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariff announcement earlier this yr.
One of many chief questions looming over the talks is whether or not the 2 nations will lengthen their short-term pause on the sweeping tariffs that introduced two of the world’s largest economies to the brink earlier this yr.
The current 90-day pause on tariffs between the U.S. and China is at present set to run out on Aug. 12, an settlement that was reached after leaders from the 2 nations held talks in Switzerland in Could.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent steered final week that an extension of such a pause was prone to come out of this week’s commerce talks.
“We’ll be figuring out what is probably going an extension,” he mentioned final week in a Fox Enterprise interview, including that he thinks “commerce is in an excellent place with China.”
Nonetheless, because the world anxiously watches for indicators of a detente within the commerce conflict between the 2 nations, Greer down-played expectations of the talks, whereas insisting that the U.S. needs to “transfer ahead in a optimistic manner.”
“Our discussions with the Chinese language are at all times cordial and constructive,” Greer mentioned.
“That is the third spherical up to now three months, so simply the truth that we’re speaking and we need to transfer ahead in a optimistic manner, is its personal good signal,” he continued.
With Trump’s Aug. 1 commerce deadline simply days away, the White Home in current days has introduced quite a few offers with main buying and selling companions, including Japan and the European Union.
Greer mentioned Monday that the White Home would not “really feel below stress to have extra offers.”
“We’ll see how bold international locations need to be, we do not really feel a crucial urgency for offers, we prefer to have offers, we need to have one thing that may assist restructure commerce,” he mentioned.
“However we have all heard the president repeatedly say that he is pleased with the tariff, he is glad to simply ship a letter and set a tariff, versus having a deal.”