The first phase of a U.S. trade deal with China may be nearing an end, according to comments made by two administration officials.
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said said in an interview Friday morning that a U.S.-China trade deal will happen "in all likelihood," although he told Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo, "the devil is always in the details."
His remarks echoed comments made by White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow late Thursday, who told reporters that a deal is "coming down to the short strokes." He also said the U.S. is "in communication with [China] every single day."
An agreement between the nations may have as many as three phases, though the first focuses on "current trade," Ross said.
"Phase one is relatively limited in its scope and what's really being debated is how much limitation will there be on the scope of phase one relative to phase two and, maybe phase three," he said.
President Trump has yet to publicly show approval. Six months ago, China and the U.S. appeared to be close to a deal, but both parties ultimately backed away.
"You don't really have a deal on anything, until you have a deal on everything." Ross said. He added it's "not surprising" that details of the deal have yet to be firmed up.
Among the details holding up a deal are a demand China promise to stop stealing U.S. intellectual property and lay out how it will buy as much as $50 billion in agricultural imports. Ross said the agricultural commitment remains a topic of conversation, including "how firm is that commitment going to be and what happens if they don't live up to it."
Kudlow told the audience at a Council on Foreign Relations event Thursday that the two sides are "getting close" and have been having "very constructive" talks.
Kudlow said at the event that Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping may sign a deal without meeting in person again.
Joe Cecela, Dream Exchange CEO, explains how they are aiming to form the first minority-controlled company to operate an exchange in U.S. history. Watch!
A Michigan judge is putting sponges in the hands of shoplifters and ordering them to wash cars in a Walmart parking lot when spring weather arrives. Genesee County Judge Jeffrey Clothier hopes the unusual form of community service discourages people from stealing from Walmart. The judge also wants to reward shoppers with free car washes. Clothier says he began ordering “Walmart wash” sentences this week for shoplifting at the store in Grand Blanc Township. He believes 75 to 100 people eventually will be ordered to wash cars this spring. Clothier says he will be washing cars alongside them when the time comes.
The State Department had been in talks with Elon Musk’s Tesla company to buy armored electric vehicles, but the plans have been put on hold by the Trump administration after reports emerged about a potential $400 million purchase. A State Department spokesperson said the electric car company owned by Musk was the only one that expressed interest back in May 2024. The deal with Tesla was only in its planning phases but it was forecast to be the largest contract of the year. It shows how some of his wealth has come and was still expected to come from taxpayers.
At 100 years old, the Goodyear Blimp is an ageless star in the sky. The 246-foot-long airship will be in the background of the Daytona 500 — flying roughly 1,500 feet above Daytona International Speedway, actually — to celebrate its greatest anniversary tour. Even though remote camera technologies are improving regularly and changing the landscape of aerial footage, the blimp continues to carve out a niche. At Daytona, with the usual 40-car field racing around a 2½-mile superspeedway, views from the blimp aptly provide the scope of the event.
You'll just have to wait for interest rates (and prices) to go down. Plus, this deal's a steel, the big carmaker wedding is off, and bribery is back, baby!
