Summary
President Donald Trump's hard-line views on trade, a staple of his message long before he entered politics, are beginning to collide with the cold realities of global geopolitics.
After threatening China with $150 billion in tariffs, Trump's administration has suspended plans to impose the tariffs for now and the president tweeted Wednesday that a "different structure" would be needed in the trade talks involving the world's two largest economies.
Trump said earlier that a resolution would help U.S. firms that supply ZTE with components, but members of Congress, including several Republicans, warned that the U.S. is being too lenient on a company that has violated U.S. sanctions.
The president has sought to overhaul NAFTA as a way of returning automobile production to the U.S. and reduce U.S. trade deficit with Mexico.
Stephen Moore, a former Trump campaign adviser and visiting fellow at The Heritage Foundation, said Trump remains focused on how the trade policies affect the financial markets and economic growth. But he expects the president to continue to press for a better deal with China.
The trade talks with China have come against the backdrop of Trump's efforts to hold a June summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, which the president said Friday could get back on track after he nixed it a day earlier.
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