USTR Says No Pressure to Reach More Deals by Aug. 1
Although deals have not been announced with South Korea, Mexico or Canada -- some of the biggest trading partners for the U.S. -- U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told CNBC that, "we don't feel any pressure to have deals" ahead of Aug. 1, when tariffs are slated to go up on all countries that have goods trade deficits with the U.S."
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Greer said that President Donald Trump is thinking about the best way to reshore manufacturing, and "he's more interested in having a good deal than a quick deal."
Greer, who was speaking on CNBC ahead of meeting with Chinese negotiators, said he doesn't expect an "enormous breakthrough" in talks on July 28, but that the "cordial and constructive talks" are a good sign.
Rather, he said, the two days of talks this week are aimed at setting the groundwork for balanced trade with China in the future and "continued monitoring and checking in on the implementation of our agreement thus far."
Greer said that every day, he talks to various countries' trade ministers. "Many are being very ambitious" in terms of offers of lowering tariff and non-tariff barriers to U.S. exports, he said. "Others less so."
The administration is no longer saying it's very close to a trade deal with India. Greer said India's trade policy "for a very long time, has been based on strongly protecting their domestic market."
He said that while Indian negotiators "have expressed interest in opening portions of their market," the U.S. wants to have more talks "with our Indian friends to see how ambitious they want to be."