Progress on U.S.-China trade

President Trump’s efforts to remedy the trade imbalance between China and the United States appear to have paid off with a modest but notable victory for U.S. auto manufacturers.

China announced yesterday that it will reduce tariffs on many imported vehicles from 25 percent to 15 percent as of July 1. The Trump administration has been pressuring China to make such changes for months.

That’s not the only good news. The Chinese government made a commitment Saturday to increase imports of American goods after continual pressure from the Oval Office.

Thus far, it appears that the president’s resolve and willingness to engage in a trade war with the Chinese left an impression strong enough to convince Chinese President Xi Jinping to show more flexibility on the matter.

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin indicated Sunday that he expected a large increase in U.S. farm sales and energy products to China.

“We are putting the trade war on hold,” he said.

In short, things are moving in the right direction.

There is a lot yet to be done, especially relative to China’s egregious practice of cybertheft of trade secrets and its extortion of U.S. corporations for their intellectual property.

Let’s applaud the Trump administration for a strong start to resolving our trade challenges with China and hope more progress can be made soon.