In FOX Business and Bloomberg Interviews, Clete Willems Discusses Next Stage of US-China Trade Talks

Akin Gump public law and policy partner Clete Willems appeared on the FOX Business program “Mornings with Maria” discussing the U.S.-China trade talks that are due to resume this week in Shanghai.

Addressing the prospects for a deal, Willems, a former Deputy Director of the National Economic Council under President Trump, said he thinks there will eventually be one, though it could take a while. Expectations are low, he said, but the Chinese “are in a position where they do a need a deal and I do think that once we get back to the table, they’re going to hopefully show some flexibility so that we can get to ‘yes’.”

Willems also discussed the upcoming trade talks on the Bloomberg Television program “Balance of Power,” saying he thinks the addition of China’s commerce minister to its negotiating team is a good thing.

“He does have a reputation as a hardliner,” Willems said, “but from President Xi’s perspective, if he wants to get a deal, he needs the hardliners brought in as well as the reformers. The fact that he’s at the table means that if the two sides can reach agreement, they have a better chance of accepting it once it’s brought back to President Xi.”

The major issue in the talks, Willems pointed out, “is forced technology transfer, and that was the origin of the U.S. investigation and the rationale for applying the tariffs in the first place, and I think the United States needs to see China signal that on forced technology transfer, it is willing to make changes to its laws to actually implement its commitments in that area.”

Willems also told both networks that the likelihood for passage of the new U.S./Mexico/Canada trade agreement—the USMCA—is very high, describing it on FOX as an agreement “that has never been more deserving of bipartisan support.”