Todd Bishop
US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said on November 3 that he was optimistic that the US and China signed the “first phase” trade agreement in November. President Donald Trump said on the same day that the US-China first phase agreement will be signed at a certain location in the United States.
Trump said after returning to the White House from New York on the 3rd: “First of all, I want to get this agreement. For me, it will be easy to meet.”
Ross, who is attending the ASEAN summit in Bangkok, pointed out that locations in Iowa, Alaska, Hawaii, and China may be the location where President Trump signed a trade agreement with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Ross said the agreement was “particularly complicated” and said that the United States “is ensuring that the parties have a very correct, clear and detailed understanding of what they agree to.”
When Ross was asked if the agreement could be signed as scheduled in November, he thought that “our state is very good, we have made great progress, and there is no natural reason why we can’t explain why the agreement was signed.” But at the same time pointed out that But whoever makes a mistake, who knows. This is always possible.”
Ross also mentioned that the advancement of the agreement to the next stage will depend on China’s legislation and enforcement mechanisms. Without these, “you get only a bunch of paper.”
In response to the question of the inclusion of Huawei in the list of entities in the United States, Ross revealed that the license for US companies to sell parts to Huawei “will be issued soon” and the government has received 260 applications.
Ross said: “There are many applications – frankly, this is more than we think.” “Remember, the list of entities also has a negative assumption. Therefore, for these companies, the safest approach is to assume rejection, even though We obviously will approve quite a few companies.”
