Secretary Steven Mnuchin on G20

December 3, 2018

At the White  House this morning Treasure Secretary Steven Mnuchin answered reporters questions regarding the recent G20 meetings in Argentina. Mnuchin  stated, “There a lot of work to be done but one specific area is a significant increase in Industrial Products. There is a specific understanding to turn the agreement the two presidents have made into a real agreement over the 90 days. Some issues will be phased in over the 90 days and some issues may need more detailed work. This is the first time there is a commitment from China that the agreement will include specific dates, specific targets, specific action. This is not going to be just kicking the can down the road.”

Secretary Mnuchin also said there they were specific discussions about tariffs  but wouldn’t comment on those specifics at this time.  “ There were very, very specific items. We have been working on this over the past hear and a half and this is the first time where they exchanged specifics and structural it es. President Xi laid out out for President Trump exactly what they are prepared to do on these issues, issues covering everything from purchasing work goods, protecting intellectual property, protecting US technology, but part of the discussion was making sure they don’t depreciate the currency to harm the US workers and US companies. They were very detailed discussions and the dinner between President Trump and President Xi  was for over three hours".

In response to a question about what impact Americans will immediately feel from this, how confident they are about China keeping their word and whether they expect more volitility Secretary Mnuchin responded, “In the very short term there will be visible changes in agriculture, you are going to see very specific changes right away. In taking President Xi at his word in his commitment to President Trump, they have to deliver on this.  President Trump has been very clear that he expects to move forward with their agreement and he reserves the ability to do additional tariffs if we are not successful".

In terms of the ‘chemistry’ between the two leaders Mnuchin stated, “There were major structural issues discussed. President Trump talked about creating real change in willingness to address issues and I think President Xi and President Trump developed  a relationship and recognize the two largest economies and understand their responsibilities”.

Secretary Mnuchin also mentioned there were specific discussions about North Korea and mentioned that Secretary of State Pompeo is doing a great job coming out of those meetings in China. He also commented that cyber issues was another topic discussed and that there is a real commitment across the board on this issue. When a reporter asked Mnuchin whether he could guarantee that China is no longer spying on us, Mnuchin had this to say, “ I  can assure you that we are going to work with intelligence, Department of Homeland Security has certain specific responsibilities, I have certain specific financial responsibilities and that we have tools to know what’s gong on and what's not going on. We are going to protect US companies and make sure they (China) lives up to their agreements, its very important to the President. They have rules and regulations that need to be changed, that was very important to President Trump".

Secretary Mnuchin also commented that this was the third major meeting between them and that President Trump extended an invitation to President Xi for a US visit and President  Xi also extended an invitation to President Trump for a China visit.

Lastly, when asked about whether the tariffs end up being paid by the taxpayer or government Secretary Mnuchin replied,” The U.S. Treasury does take in the tariffs , we are collecting tariffs”, but likened it to a real estate transaction ,” Its like real estate commissions, sometimes they are paid by the buyer and sometimes by the seller. Some of these are absorbed by the foreign producers, some are passed on to to US companies,  but of course.”

Story by Louisa @ The Goldfish Report