Washington :
The United States is the bright spot in the world amidst a slowing down of the Chinese and European economy, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Monday.
“There is no question the US economy is in very good shape. As we look around the world, there is no question that China is slowing, Europe is slowing. The US is the bright spot of the world, Mnuchin told reporters at a news conference here.
Mnuchin said that the Trump administration will be looking at tax cuts 2.0 for the middle class. It is something that will be something we will consider next year but right now the economy is in very, very good shape, he said.
The US and China are currently engaged in a trade war and simultaneous negotiations on a trade deal. The next round of talks are scheduled to be held later this month.
We are looking forward to a vice minister level here this month. We are also looking forward to the vice premier coming early next month. So we are looking forward to a lot of work being done in time for when (US Trade Representatives) Ambassador (Robert) Lighthizer and myself meet with the vice premier, he said.
Mnuchin alleged that China have devalued its currency, and thus are paying for the increase in import taxes by the US.
So the fact that they buy things 15 per cent cheaper means that China is paying for indeed the tariff because when you look at the net economics, it’s not costing US companies anything because of the depreciation, he said. So it really is simple math with the depreciation of the RMB, he said.
Mnuchin said that he expects the governor of the People’s Bank of China to come over for these talks. So part of the conversations we will be having with them is around currency and currency manipulation, but that has never come up, he said.
