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Spicer said that U.S and Chinese officials were still at the
early stages of "fleshing out" a pledge by President Donald
Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping to develop 100-day plan
to help reduce China's massive trade surplus with the United
States that was made at their first meeting in Florida last
week.
Asked in a press briefing whether China had offered concessions
on beef and financial services access, as reported by the
Financial Times, Spicer said these sectors were among topics
that U.S.-China talks would cover.
"I think, obviously, beef exports and additional market access
in China, intellectual property, the ability to have foreign
ownership, especially in the services industry, is something
that has been a big prize of U.S. exporters and industry for a
long time," Spicer said. "But it is something that is being
hammered out as we go forward."
Another Trump administration official said U.S. trade
discussions with China will cover a variety of sectors, and the
meetings were just getting started.
Asked about the FT's report of beef and financial services
concessions by China, the official said: "Two sectors is not
considered comprehensive."
No decisions have been made to revive negotiations over a
U.S.-China bilateral investment treaty that were pursued by the
Obama administration last year, said the official, who was not
authorized to speak publicly about U.S. negotiating plans.
China could become a massive export market for U.S. beef if a
deal could be struck, said Brett Stuart, chief executive of
Global AgriTrends in Denver. He said the Greater China region
currently imports about $7 billion worth of beef annually - a
figure expected to grow as China's middle class expands.
But China has purchased hardly any American beef since it
conditionally lifted a longstanding import ban last year. The
ban was imposed in 2003 due to a case of bovine spongiform
encephalopathy (BSE), or mad cow disease, in Washington state.
"We have yet to see U.S. beef on Chinese tables," said Craig
Uden, president of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association.
(Additional reporting by Tom Polansek and Theopolis Waters in
Chicago; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
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