Karoline Leavitt Pressed About Negotiations With China: ‘Will The President Formally Sign The Trade Deal?’

During Wednesday’s White House Press Briefing, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt answered questions about trade negotiations with China.

Transcript

00:00Stephanie.

00:02Two questions on the China trade deal, if I may.

00:04First, will the President formally sign the trade deal,

00:07and if so, when?

00:08Secretary Lutnik sort of alluded to the fact

00:10that it might be in a couple of days,

00:12but I'm curious if you're going to be more specific to Rita.

00:14Sure.

00:15I do have more specifics for you.

00:16I spoke to the President about this.

00:18He spoke to his trade team, who did a fantastic job negotiating

00:21this on behalf of the United States

00:23and meeting with their Chinese counterparts.

00:25The President is talking to them about the details of it now.

00:27But what the President heard, he liked.

00:29China has agreed to open their markets to the United States

00:32separately of this deal, and when it comes to this deal,

00:34we're going back to the terms that were agreed upon in Geneva

00:38for the release of some of those critical minerals

00:40and the magnets from China to the United States,

00:43and we have agreed to fully comply with the Geneva agreement as well.

00:46So the President is reviewing the details of that with his trade team now,

00:50and you'll hear more from him, I'm sure.

00:52And then the second question, on tariffs,

00:54Secretary Lutnik suggested that the tariffs would remain unchanged

00:58with China.

00:59I'm wondering if there's any room for them to negotiate even lower,

01:02or if this is the floor.

01:04I won't get ahead of any further negotiations.

01:07We're in a great place right now,

01:08and I would add that this is the result of a lot of hard work

01:10from the President and his team,

01:12and the President has a good and respectful relationship

01:14with President Xi, and as you know,

01:16they had a direct conversation which led to this success

01:18that the President announced on Truth Social this morning.

01:21J.J.