While it’s not clear if such hawkish views will carry enough weight to sway Trump as he negotiates with Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea, Lighthizer said the key issues for him go beyond politically important items, including fentanyl and soybeans.
Speaking after the talks, Trump said he’ll reduce to 10% the 20% tariff he placed on Chinese goods over exports of fentanyl precursor chemicals, allowing Beijing to secure a rate of duty on many goods that keeps the country competitive with other regional manufacturing rivals. The US president also said there were no discussions of access to Nvidia Corp.’s flagship Blackwell AI processor.Lighthizer warned against making compromises that go too far. “We have to make sure we’re not making concessions that are going to hurt us at the long run,” he said.
Asked about the prospect of the Blackwell sales, he said, “We clearly don’t want to transfer more technology to China than we have to.” Lighthizer added that he was hopeful Trump would not ease restrictions on Chinese investment, and data and technology are the two areas where Chinese investment should be barred.
“We have to realise that China is an adversary of the United States, and that we have to be careful when we transfer it,” Lighthizer added.
Trump and Xi “both have their own chokepoint issues, so they have to deal with that,” he said. “They have to make sure we are in a position where those chokepoints don’t bring either our economies to a halt.”
While a complete rupture between the two economies is unlikely, Lighthizer predicted a “strategic decoupling.”
“You are going to see, hopefully, a relationship which is balanced, one in which security and technology is balanced, and in which investment going to and from is in the interest for us in the US,” he said.
Read More: Stock Crash: Ixigo-parent shares tank 20% after Q2 loss
