Clete Willems Speaks with South China Morning Post, BBC on Latest in U.S.-China Trade Talks

South China Morning Post has quoted Akin Gump public law and policy partner Clete Willems in the article “China, US praise trade war deal dispute settlement mechanism but details remain sketchy after talks.” The article reports that, while a dispute resolution mechanism was included as a key element of the interim trade deal reached last week between the United States and China, neither side has offered any details about how it will be implemented.

Willems, a former top trade negotiator for the Trump administration, said, “My understanding is they’re trying to work some of that [enforcement] out by November 15th.”

“I don’t know how that’s evolved, but I do know that it’s critical for the United States to get enforcement provisions because China has made some commitments before and didn’t follow through on them and so we need some way to make sure that we can check if they’re going to follow through,” Willems added. “We did trust China was there in good faith, but at the same time, we had been fooled before and we were going to make sure that there was a way to verify that they would follow through.”

Willems also told the SCMP, for the article “US fears over economic damage from further tariffs on China accelerated mini-deal, says Trump’s ex-trade adviser,” that the White House was eager to pursue a partial deal since the initial tariffs were designed to “maximize the pain on China and minimize the pain on the US consumer.” He noted that the more tariffs ARE imposed, “eventually you’re going to get to the ones that hurt the U.S. more than China and we’re getting there now.”

In a separate television interview with the publication, Willems said he thinks the interim deal is a win for both sides, in particular, for the United States, given China’s commitment to making systemic changes to its agricultural policies, as well as certain intellectual property and currency provisions.

To view the interview in its entirety, please click here.

Appearing on BBC’s “Asia Business Report,” Willems added that in light of the interim deal, “the sides do need to figure out how to finalize these details and that’s a work in progress.”