Jamieson Greer says China-U.S. Board of Trade will be "focused on trade in non-sensitive goods"

[0:00] Good morning, and welcome to Face the Nation. [0:03] President Trump's grip on his party has tightened [0:05] with Saturday's defeat of Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy [0:09] in a three-way Republican primary. [0:11] Cassidy voted to impeach Mr. Trump [0:13] after the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol. [0:16] And as a doctor, Cassidy has been outspoken [0:19] about some of the administration's health policies. [0:22] In turn, Trump endorsed one of his opponents [0:25] and has been openly critical of Cassidy. [0:28] There will now be a runoff for a seat [0:30] that is a safe Republican one. [0:33] But this is a midterm year [0:34] when a president's record is a top factor nationally. [0:38] Our CBS News poll out this morning [0:40] says that seven in 10 Americans say they are frustrated [0:43] or even angry with the administration's approach [0:46] to the economy. [0:48] Two-thirds say Trump's policies [0:49] are making the economy worse, at least in the short term. [0:52] And only 27% say they approve of his handling of inflation. [0:58] That marks a new low for the president [1:00] in our CBS News polling. [1:03] We begin this morning with a top member [1:05] of the president's economic team, [1:07] United States Trade Representative, Jameson Greer. [1:10] Good morning to you, Ambassador. [1:12] Good morning. Good to be here. [1:14] It isn't just a matter of sentiment. [1:16] Gas is at an average of $4.51 a gallon. [1:20] Americans have spent $45 billion more on fuel [1:24] since the war began versus a year ago. [1:26] The stock market's up, but lower-income Americans [1:30] are pulling back on their spending. [1:32] The New York Fed reports households earning less [1:34] than $125,000 a year are fueling up their cars less often. [1:39] How do you provide relief to the average American? [1:43] Well, we know that no one wants to see higher gas prices [1:46] at the same time the president's balancing [1:49] foreign policy considerations. [1:51] We know that in addition to wanting to have low gas prices, [1:55] we don't want our children or grandchildren [1:57] to inherit a world where Iran has a nuclear weapon. [2:00] So the president's focused on affordability [2:02] in as many ways that he can. [2:04] He's bringing jobs back to America. [2:06] We're focused on getting wages up [2:08] to offset any kind of increase in prices. [2:10] And we're seeing prices go down [2:11] for staples like dairy, cheese, flour, et cetera. [2:14] So we're very focused on this. [2:16] The president's focused on it. [2:17] And we look forward to seeing those prices come down soon [2:21] as the operations wrap up in the Gulf. [2:24] But we have no timeframe for that at this point. [2:27] Let me ask you about what you were just working on in Asia. [2:31] China said it agreed with the United States [2:34] to establish a board of investment [2:35] to consider Chinese investment here in the U.S. [2:38] and to establish bilateral boards of trade [2:41] to discuss tariffs. [2:43] Which products are going to be affected by that board? [2:46] Are these items outside the current investigations [2:48] that you are conducting? [2:51] So when we think about the board of trade, [2:53] we're thinking about how to manage economic relations [2:55] between the U.S. and China. [2:56] These are two economies that are quite different. [2:59] And we're focused on trade and non-sensitive goods. [3:01] When you talk about sensitive goods, [3:03] you know, the most high-tech stuff, [3:05] you know, things that can be used for military uses, [3:07] those are things that, those are national security issues. [3:10] So we're looking to discuss things like sales [3:12] of agricultural goods to China, energy goods, [3:15] Boeing's, medical devices. [3:16] When we talk about the kinds of things [3:18] we want to be importing from China, [3:20] there are a number of things. [3:21] There can be consumer goods, maybe low-tech items. [3:24] And so we look at those types of areas [3:26] where we should be trading. [3:27] On the investment side, [3:28] the board of investment is really about discussing [3:30] key issues in U.S.-China investment policy. [3:34] It's not really an investment program, [3:35] but it's to try to almost be like a firefighter [3:38] and put out issues when they arise [3:40] between the two countries. [3:41] So really, this just seems a message of stability [3:44] because you were already discussing [3:45] a lot of these things on a bilateral basis, right? [3:47] I mean, what's new? [3:50] So we have never had a board of trade [3:52] or a board of investment before. [3:54] We've always had an ad hoc approach [3:56] with China and the United States, [3:57] which I think is actually challenging. [4:00] I think it's more important [4:01] to formalize these relations. [4:03] The United States has a host of, you know, [4:05] tariffs, import controls, export controls on China. [4:08] China has a number of non-tariff barriers [4:11] that have been in place for a long time. [4:13] You know, other challenges they impose [4:15] to block our imports and things like that. [4:17] It's much better to discuss these [4:19] in a formalized way between our government [4:21] and their government. [4:23] In addition to this, [4:24] we saw China over the past couple of days [4:26] reduce a host of non-tariff barriers [4:28] on agricultural products, [4:30] such as beef and poultry, et cetera. [4:32] And so we've seen them already starting to do things [4:35] to facilitate imports from the United States. [4:37] Well, I'll come back to some of those in a moment, [4:39] but I want to ask you about tariffs. [4:41] The president said to reporters [4:43] he did not discuss tariffs with Xi Jinping at all. [4:47] Are we in an indefinite trade truce [4:49] or are you looking at bringing that tariff rate [4:52] back to where it was before the Supreme Court ruling? [4:56] Well, the Chinese know, [4:58] and that's part of our deal, [4:59] that the United States can elevate tariffs [5:02] to the higher level that we had [5:04] at the time of what we call the Busan deal in October, [5:07] when President Xi and President Trump met. [5:09] Following the Supreme Court case in February, [5:12] about 10 percentage points [5:14] were knocked off the tariff rate for China. [5:16] We believe under our deal [5:17] that we are able to elevate that again. [5:20] The president is exploring different tools that he has. [5:23] I don't want to prejudge [5:24] a lot of the investigations that are happening. [5:26] The Chinese know, [5:27] just like many other countries we're dealing with, [5:29] that we're going to have a certain level of tariff [5:31] to control our imports, [5:32] but that we also expect market opening. [5:34] Okay. [5:35] But the last time you were here [5:36] after that Supreme Court decision, [5:38] you said that when some of these tariffs expire in July, [5:42] that you would expect to roll out new tariffs [5:45] after the end of these investigations under authority 301. [5:49] So are you saying now [5:50] that you no longer expect tariffs [5:52] to come into place after July? [5:54] Well, I think I was careful to tell you [5:57] because my general counsel always tells me to say this. [6:00] I can't prejudge the outcomes of those investigations, [6:03] those investigations, [6:04] if they find on tariff barriers [6:06] or unfair trading practices, [6:08] they can authorize the president to take actions [6:10] like tariffs, like fees on services, [6:13] like quotas, things like that. [6:14] So we'll certainly be presenting the president [6:16] with those options [6:17] if those investigations show [6:19] what we think they might show, [6:21] which is that there's a huge problem [6:22] with overcapacity in China and other countries. [6:24] So we'll get back to you [6:26] on the findings in those investigations [6:28] when they conclude. [6:29] Okay. [6:30] We did see China on Saturday [6:31] release a statement confirming [6:33] some of the deals with the U.S., [6:35] but it was pretty vague. [6:37] There was no mention of the promise [6:38] to buy 750 Boeing planes [6:41] that President Trump told reporters about [6:42] if the first 200 go well. [6:45] China said there was a guarantee by the U.S. [6:47] to supply aircraft engines, [6:49] but it didn't mention the 400 and 450 GE engines [6:53] that the president announced [6:54] GE hasn't commented either. [6:56] So how locked in are these agreements? [7:00] So the 200 Boeings, those are locked in. [7:04] There's obviously a future to have more Boeings. [7:08] The reality is this is the first major purchase by China [7:11] in almost 10 years of Boeings or orders rather. [7:14] So that's going forward. [7:16] And like the president said, [7:18] you know, when and if Boeing delivers, [7:20] there's a lot of upside there. [7:23] With respect to some of the other details, [7:25] we're finalizing a fact sheet [7:26] that we'll hopefully get out very soon [7:28] so we can be clearer about the double-digit increase [7:31] in agricultural purchases we expect from the Chinese [7:33] and some of the other things that happened [7:35] and were agreed to during the visit. [7:37] Okay, and I know GE is meeting with China today, [7:40] but we haven't seen anything from them [7:42] on the aircraft engines. [7:44] On the ag products, [7:45] the conservative Wall Street Journal editorial board [7:48] questioned whether the summit achieved [7:50] any of the stated wins. [7:51] Because of how vague these things have been, [7:54] they said, [7:54] Mr. Trump boasted about fantastic Chinese purchases [7:57] of U.S. soybeans and aircraft, [7:59] but China didn't confirm the sales. [8:01] And by our count, [8:02] this is the second time China has bought [8:03] the same American soybeans, [8:05] or is it the third? [8:07] They're kind of arguing you're playing a shell game here [8:10] with like re-announcing past deals [8:13] on past agreements to purchase over a period of time. [8:17] Can you answer these conservative skeptics [8:19] with any specifics? [8:22] So first of all, [8:23] we've had a deal in place [8:24] with the Chinese since October [8:26] that they would buy 25 million metric tons [8:28] of soybeans each year [8:30] for the rest of the president's administration. [8:32] So that deal is still in force. [8:35] What we expect with the new purchase agreements [8:37] where the specific number [8:38] will be announced very soon, [8:40] double-digit purchases [8:41] of aggregate agricultural products. [8:44] When I say aggregate, [8:45] I mean everything else. [8:46] That could be soybeans, [8:47] that could be beef, [8:49] that could be grains, [8:50] that could be dairy products, [8:51] all kinds of things. [8:53] So we have the existing soybean deal [8:56] that they may be referring to. [8:58] And then over on the top of that, [9:00] we have these agricultural products as well. [9:02] And all of that will be facilitated [9:04] by Board of Trade discussions with the Chinese. [9:06] So still not nailed down, [9:08] just an aggregate agreement. [9:10] So how many concessions did the U.S. make? [9:15] What were those concessions in order to get this? [9:18] Well, one thing, [9:19] there are balanced trades here, right? [9:21] We're trying to get to balanced trade [9:23] with the Chinese. [9:23] For a long time, [9:24] it's been out of whack. [9:25] So when you see something [9:26] like what the Chinese said, [9:28] which I can confirm, [9:29] about a sale of Boeings [9:31] accompanied by a sale of aircraft [9:33] and auto parts and spare auto parts, [9:35] aircraft parts and those kinds of things. [9:38] The Chinese want to make sure [9:39] that they have regular access [9:40] to these kinds of spare items [9:42] so that they can continue to fly their fleets. [9:45] So that's something we want to do. [9:47] We are focused on mutually beneficial trade. [9:49] So when you're talking about that kind of thing, [9:51] what we should be exporting, [9:52] what we should be importing, [9:54] becomes less a question of concessions [9:55] and more a question of what's mutually beneficial [9:57] for both of us. [9:58] That's why we're so focused [9:59] on non-sensitive trade [10:00] because that doesn't require concessions. [10:03] That's about working together, [10:05] talking about what they need, [10:06] what we want to sell, [10:07] what we need from them. [10:09] So we're already seeing it [10:10] as they've re-registered beef facilities [10:12] where beef facilities expired. [10:14] They're taking poultry again. [10:15] They're working with us on biotech traits [10:17] to make sure that those types of products [10:20] that have genetic modification [10:22] can go into China without any problem. [10:25] China still sells more to the U.S. than it buys, [10:27] but that difference has decreased [10:29] by about 31.5%. [10:31] So thank you, Ambassador.