Trump Sticks to Trade Script in Asia but Challenges Remain
Wendy Cutler on Bloomberg TV
U.S. President Donald Trump is currently halfway through his first trip to Asia, a 12-day, five-country journey on which trade issues have taken center-stage. Asia Society Policy Institute Vice President Wendy Cutler appeared on "Bloomberg Daybreak: Australia" to discuss the Trump administration’s trade policy with Asia, U.S.-Korea trade relations, as well as the upcoming U.S.-China trade talks.
Cutler states she is pleased “that the meeting between President Moon and President Trump went on-script with respect to KORUS,” the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement and that “a process has been established … to proceed with exploring amendments to the KORUS agreement.”
However, Cutler believes that trade discussions between President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are “going to be more difficult.” Though there is likely to be an announcement of big-ticket Chinese purchases of U.S. equipment and services, Cutler thinks that discussions could be complicated by trade tensions that have been simmering for some time. (2 min., 49 sec.)