Trade negotiations will resume with China ahead of a meeting between President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping, Trump tweeted June 18. He said he and Xi "will be having an extended meeting next week at the G-20 in Japan." The White House said the two leaders talked on that morning about "structural barriers to trade with China and achieving meaningful reforms that are enforceable and verifiable."

President Donald Trump issued an executive order directing all federal departments and agencies to eliminate one-third of their current Federal Advisory Committee Act-authorized committees by Sept. 30. The order limits the total government-wide number of advisory committees to 350. Eliminated committees should include those found to deal with subject matters that have “become obsolete,” have accomplished their stated objectives, have primary functions “that have been assumed by another entity” or that the agency finds have a “cost of operation [that’s] excessive in relation” to their “benefits to the Federal Government.” Agencies can count committees already eliminated since Trump entered office in January 2017 toward their quota. Agency heads can seek a waiver of the requirement if OMB concludes “it is necessary for the delivery of essential services, for effective program delivery, or because it is otherwise warranted by the public interest.” All agency heads will need to submit recommendations by Aug. 1 to OMB for eliminating committees. OMB will recommend which committees to eliminate by Sept. 1.

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said it's too speculative to say whether the imposition of tariffs on List 4 of Section 301 goods from China might be put on hold after President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping meet at the G-20 summit at the end of June. In fact, Ross told Bloomberg TV June 13 that it's not clear whether the two will share just a brief conversation, or a dinner. "We don't know for sure there will be a meeting," he said.

There is more to the Mexico-U.S. deal than the troops heading to the Mexico-Guatemala border and larger numbers of asylum seekers staying in Mexico while they wait for their hearings, President Donald Trump told reporters on the White House lawn June 11. Reporters were asking about the secret element Trump tweeted about on June 10 (see 1906100012), and Trump continued to decline to reveal it, but implied it is an agreement to require asylum seekers to request asylum in the first safe country they come to.

Big agriculture purchases may be part of a deal with Mexico to stop tariffs from going in place as scheduled for June 10, President Donald Trump said in a June 7 tweet. "If we are able to make the deal with Mexico, & there is a good chance that we will, they will begin purchasing Farm & Agricultural products at very high levels, starting immediately," he said. "If we are unable to make the deal, Mexico will begin paying Tariffs at the 5% level on Monday."

President Donald Trump tweeted over the weekend, "Mexico is sending a big delegation to talk about the Border. Problem is, they’ve been 'talking' for 25 years. We want action, not talk. They could solve the Border Crisis in one day if they so desired. Otherwise, our companies and jobs are coming back to the USA!"

The U.S. and Japan are moving quickly in trade talks and "trade-wise, I think we will be announcing some things, probably in August, that will be very good for both countries," President Donald Trump said in May 27 remarks before meeting with Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe. Asked about that announcement during a press conference following the meeting, Abe said the two sides have agreed to "accelerate the talks between the ministers." Trump highlighted that Japan recently opened up its markets for U.S. beef (see 1905170042) and said "we hope to have even more to announce on the trade very, very soon."

President Donald Trump, in a freewheeling press conference May 23, accused House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of not understanding the NAFTA rewrite, and called her crazy because of the hand gestures she made during a press conference earlier that day. "I don’t think Nancy Pelosi understands the deal. It's too complicated. But it's not a complicated deal. It's actually not a complicated deal," he said. "It's a deal that's going to be many, many times better than NAFTA."

The Coalition for GSP criticized Turkey’s removal from the Generalized System of Preferences program in a statement following the White House's May 16 announcement, saying the move will impose “tens of million of dollars in taxes annually.” President Donald Trump said Turkey no longer qualifies as a developing country, which means Turkey will also be subject to Section 201 safeguards on solar cells and washing machines. The removal of Turkey from GSP takes effect May 17. In a separate proclamation, the White House announced that the 50 percent Section 232 tariff on Turkish steel in place since August will return to 25 percent on May 21

President Donald Trump said "we'll see" what develops from trade negotiations that were beginning at 5 p.m. on May 9, but if a deal can't be reached, he said the U.S. can keep tariffs on Chinese exports. "Businesses will pour into the country. It'll be the old-fashioned way, the way we used to do, we made our own product," he said. "Our alternative is an excellent one. It's an alternative I've spoken about for years."