On "Forbes Newsroom," author and U.S.-China relations expert Gordon Chang spoke about the Trump administration discussing a loosening of tariffs imposed on China.
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00:00Hi, everybody. I'm Brittany Lewis, a breaking news reporter here at Forbes. Joining me now
00:07is Gordon Chang, political commentator and author of Plan Red, China's project to destroy
00:12America. Gordon, thank you so much for joining me again today.
00:15Well, thank you, Brittany.
00:17There is some developing news with the ongoing trade war with China, so I want to dive right
00:22into it. On Wednesday morning, the Wall Street Journal reported that the White House was
00:26considering a significant slash in the tariffs against China from 145 percent to between
00:33approximately anywhere from 50 percent to 65 percent. But just this afternoon, White House
00:39Press Secretary Caroline Levitt said this. There will be no unilateral reduction in tariffs
00:43against China. The president has made it clear China needs to make a deal with the United
00:48States of America. To start off the conversation, can you talk exactly where you think we are
00:53right now in the trade war with China? Well, there have certainly been a lot of conversations
00:58both yesterday and today about a trade deal with China. So, for instance, Treasury Secretary
01:04Besant at the Institute of International Finance today talked about a, quote, opportunity for
01:10a big deal. He was referring to a rebalancing of the Chinese economy, which I think is going
01:17to be extremely difficult to accomplish, largely because Xi Jinping doesn't want consumption
01:23to be a major portion of the Chinese economy. He wants it to be manufacturing-based. But nonetheless,
01:29these comments, not only from the Treasury Secretary, but from the president himself, indicate
01:35that the administration does want a deal. And certainly, that has made the markets very happy.
01:40So, the question is, are these conversations, are they real or are they just an attempt to boost equity value?