U.S. President
Donald Trump will sign executive orders on Friday aimed at identifying
abuses that are causing massive U.S. trade deficits and clamping down on
non-payment of anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties on imports, his top
trade officials said.
The
orders, which underscore China's position as the biggest contributor to
the $734 billion U.S. goods trade deficit last year, comes as Trump
prepares for his first face-to-face meeting with Chinese President Xi
next week in Florida, where trade issues promise to be a major source of
tension.
The directives allow Trump to focus on meeting his campaign promises to combat the flow of unfairly traded imports into the United States just a week after his pledge to repeal and replace Obamacare imploded in Congress.
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross told reporters that one of the orders directs his department and the U.S. Trade Representative to conduct a major review of the causes of U.S. trade deficits, from unfair trade "cheating" to "currency misalignment" to "asymmetrical" treatment of tax systems by the World Trade Organization.
Ross said he aims to complete the study and report the findings to Trump in 90 days -- a time frame that coincides with the expected start of negotiations to revamp the U.S.-Canada-Mexico North American Free Trade Agreement.
The study's findings will underpin the Trump administration's future trade policy decisions, Ross said, and will be the first "systematic analysis" of the trade deficit's causes, "country-by-country, product-by-product."
Ross has promised tougher enforcement of U.S. trade laws and more anti-dumping and anti-subsidy cases initiated by the Commerce Department, rather than relying on companies to claim injuries from imports.
China tops the list, with a $347 billion surplus last year, followed by Japan, with a $69 billion surplus, Germany at $65 billion, Mexico at $63 billion, Ireland at $36 billion and Vietnam at $32 billion.
The second trade order to be signed by Trump is aimed at halting the non-payment and under-collection of anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties the United States slaps on many foreign goods.
White House National Trade Council Director Peter Navarro said that some $2.8 billion in such duties went uncollected between 2001 and the end of 2016 from companies in some 40 countries.
The directives allow Trump to focus on meeting his campaign promises to combat the flow of unfairly traded imports into the United States just a week after his pledge to repeal and replace Obamacare imploded in Congress.
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross told reporters that one of the orders directs his department and the U.S. Trade Representative to conduct a major review of the causes of U.S. trade deficits, from unfair trade "cheating" to "currency misalignment" to "asymmetrical" treatment of tax systems by the World Trade Organization.
Ross said he aims to complete the study and report the findings to Trump in 90 days -- a time frame that coincides with the expected start of negotiations to revamp the U.S.-Canada-Mexico North American Free Trade Agreement.
The study's findings will underpin the Trump administration's future trade policy decisions, Ross said, and will be the first "systematic analysis" of the trade deficit's causes, "country-by-country, product-by-product."
Ross has promised tougher enforcement of U.S. trade laws and more anti-dumping and anti-subsidy cases initiated by the Commerce Department, rather than relying on companies to claim injuries from imports.
China tops the list, with a $347 billion surplus last year, followed by Japan, with a $69 billion surplus, Germany at $65 billion, Mexico at $63 billion, Ireland at $36 billion and Vietnam at $32 billion.
The second trade order to be signed by Trump is aimed at halting the non-payment and under-collection of anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties the United States slaps on many foreign goods.
White House National Trade Council Director Peter Navarro said that some $2.8 billion in such duties went uncollected between 2001 and the end of 2016 from companies in some 40 countries.
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