It's likely that President Donald Trump will be signing off on the first phase of the China trade deal during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Chili in mid-November, White House Director of Trade and Manufacturing Policy Director Peter Navarro said Friday.
He told Fox News' "America's Newsroom" that earlier in the morning, there was a "very good talk" between U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and the chief negotiator for China's team, and "all systems are go" for a signing.
Lighthizer's office has announced that the U.S. and China are close to a deal.
Meanwhile, Navarro dismissed a Wall Street Journal article stating that businesses fear the United States and China will not reach a deal on the agreement's core issues, saying that forced transfer of technology, limits on the movement of data, and subsidies enjoyed by Chinese competitors aren't addressed in the first phase.
"There shouldn't be fears," Navarro said. "I'm telling you there is optimism and we're having talks on schedule. Phase one includes a solid chapter on intellectual property, and a good start on the issue of forced technology transfer, in that the Chinese are accepting the rule that the government of China must not force technology transfer. Phase two would flesh that out."
Also on Friday, Navarro commented on early voting returns in the General Motors contract resolution, saying they "cause optimism," and if the contract is approved, that will reverse a Labor Department report Friday showing 46,000 jobs being slashed from October's nonfarm payrolls.
According to Reuters, the department's monthly strike report showed 46,000 GM employees remained idle at the automaker's Michigan and Kentucky plants during the October payrolls count survey period.
"That's exactly the amount of workers at GM, 46,000," Navarro said. "The good news is the plants are voting plant by plant. The early returns cause optimism. By 4 p.m., the union will look at all the votes. I think it is pretty clear that we should have a favorable result although we shouldn't get ahead of ourselves."
A resolution would be good news for not just the 46,000 plant jobs, but also the more than 80,000 jobs in the supply chain that have been at risk, said Navarro.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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