White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said Wednesday that U.S. trade talks with China are continuing to progress as negotiations between the world’s two biggest economies resume in Washington this week.
Kudlow told reporters that the two countries made good headway in Beijing last week, with China acknowledging such problematic issues as the theft of intellectual property, forced technology transfers and computer hacking.
He said no decisions have been made on automobile tariffs.
U.S. lawmakers are taking a wait-and-see attitude on the lengthy talks.
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, a key ally of President Donald Trump, told VOA’s Mandarin service, “I’m hopeful. I think the president is right to insist on change. We want it to be a win-win for both countries. And I will see. We will know in a few weeks.”
He added, “It’s got to be some enforcement mechanism that future Congresses and presidents can believe will work, because it just can’t be, you know, a deal in name only.”
Another Republican, Sen. Thom Tillis, said, “One of the things that I’m particularly focused on is intellectual property and intellectual property protection. So, I hope that we’re moving along not only the general terms of the trade agreement but also a real focus on what I think is the single greatest threat long term, and that’s having China more productively participate in the production of intellectual property.”
Republican Sen. Charles Grassley said the U.S. hopes to complete the trade negotiations by the end of April.
But Myron Brilliant, executive vice president at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, a lobby for the biggest American corporations, said concluding the talks will not be easy.
“The end game is never going to be easy,” he said. “It’s talks about the two largest economic powers in the world. You are talking about a set of issues that requires some changes, significant changes, in China’s behavior.”
Yihua Lee of VOA Mandarin service contributed to this report.
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