Source: Rita Jane Gabbett, MEATINGPLACE, 12/10/18


U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer on Sunday called the March 1 deadline for the United States and China to make progress on trade that would avert the U.S. boosting tariffs on Chinese goods “a hard deadline.” 

During an interview on the CBS program “Face the Nation”, Lighthizer said, “As far as I'm concerned, it's a hard deadline. When I talked to the president of the United States, he's not talking about going beyond March. He's talking about getting a deal. If there is a deal to be gotten, we want to get it in the next 90 days."

In an interview with NPR, Lighthizer elaborated that in order for the current 90-day pause in tariff escalation to be successful, “we need to see structural changes in China or an agreement to have structural changes.”

He cited as most pressing, “the theft and forced technology transfer from the United States companies to Chinese companies.”
Meat companies, particularly pork processors, have been hit hard by retaliatory tariffs by China in reaction to those already imposed by the White House. They are watching these talks closely in hopes of relief or at least averting an escalation with further tariffs.

If the two sides do not succeed by March 1, President Donald Trump has promised to boost to 25 percent the current 10 percent tariffs on a number of Chinese exports to the United States.  

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