Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told Fox Business anchor Maria Bartiromo that there's still more work to do on a trade deal with China, but said, "I think there's a real strong desire by both sides to see if we can wrap this up or move on." He said he hopes -- after this week's talks in China and next week's negotiations in Washington -- "to be at the point where we can either recommend to the president we have a deal or make a recommendation that we don't."

If House Speaker Nancy Pelosi doesn't bring the new NAFTA to a vote, NAFTA could stay in place, Acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney said at a conference April 30. Mulvaney dismissed the Democrats' argument that the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement could be amended in discrete ways to satisfy their complaints before going to a vote. Interviewer Maria Bartiromo pointed out that Democrats say "I'm not signing it in its current form."

Some experts are expecting President Donald Trump to announce a tariff plan in mid-May for autos -- even if he suspends implementation, as he did initially for Europe and NAFTA partners on steel and aluminum. But a new analysis says he has many ways to put off revealing his cards. The Section 232 statute gives the president the option to deliberate for an additional 180 days after the first 90-day deadline -- that would move the decision date to Nov. 14. Peterson Institute for International Economics economist Jeremie Cohen-Setton wrote that there are other options for Trump to keep holding the possibility of tariffs over European negotiators' heads without laying out exactly what would be taxed and at what level. He could ask for a supplemental analysis, or another agency to weigh in, which in past actions delayed a decision by more than a year and a half. He could terminate this investigation, but then quickly restart it. "A Section 232 investigation on oil was, for example, first initiated in 1973, then in 1975, and again resurrected in 1978," Cohen-Setton wrote.

President Donald Trump threatened, in a tweet April 23, to match European Union tariffs on motorcycles, as he reacted to Harley-Davidson corporate earnings news. He wrote: "Harley Davidson has struggled with Tariffs with the EU, currently paying 31%. They’ve had to move production overseas to try and offset some of that Tariff that they’ve been hit with which will rise to 66% in June of 2021. So unfair to U.S. We will Reciprocate!" As free-trade advocates noted on Twitter, the EU tariff is one of the tariffs that was raised because of the U.S.'s Section 232 tariffs on aluminum and steel.

The director of the White House's Council of Economic Advisors, Larry Kudlow, said "a lot of headway" is being made in trade negotiations with China, and that there's discussion of another trip to continue in-person negotiations. "We're not there yet, but we've made a heck of a lot of progress," he said at a National Press Club luncheon April 23. "I don't want to make a prediction or a forecast" on reaching a resolution, he said. "Will we succeed? I don't know. We're a heck of a lot closer than we were. Sometimes it goes hot and cold."

The U.S. and China are aiming to reach a trade agreement by early May and sign it later that month, according to an April 17 report by Bloomberg. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin are expected to travel to Beijing in late April, according to the report, followed by a Washington visit from Chinese Vice Premier Liu He the next week. During that visit, officials hope to announce a trade agreement, Bloomberg reported.

President Donald Trump, speaking at an April 15 rally designed to celebrate the tax law's changes, continued to threaten the European Union with car taxes if it doesn't change its policies. "We're in massive trade negotiations, as you know, because our farmers haven't been treated properly for many years," he said. He then said negotiations with China are going well, but said the EU needs to recognize things are different now.

The suggestion that the U.S. could shut down the ports of entry at the Mexican border "is an applause line, but it's not an idea," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said at an event hosted by Politico on April 2. She said she would hope there would be enough maturity at the White House not to make the threat a reality. President Donald Trump, speaking to reporters at the White House later in the day, both reiterated the threat and softened his tone on the likelihood of it happening. While he said that if Congress doesn't make a deal to stop the practice he called "catch and release," "the border's going to be closed -- 100 percent." But he also said that Mexico has started to prevent more Central Americans from crossing their territory into the United States.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce said April 1 that closing the U.S.-Mexico border "would inflict severe economic harm" on the country, and that even threatening closure is damaging. March 29 marked the third time President Donald Trump has threatened to close the border. The first time, it was because of Central American migrants. The second time, it was because he was angry Democrats wouldn't fund a border wall (see 1812280006). This time, again, it's because of Central American migrants. He tweeted, "If Mexico doesn’t immediately stop ALL illegal immigration coming into the United States throug [sic] our Southern Border, I will be CLOSING..... ....the Border, or large sections of the Border, next week. This would be so easy for Mexico to do, but they just take our money and 'talk.' Besides, we lose so much money with them, especially when you add in drug trafficking etc.), that the Border closing would be a good thing!"

In a brief round of questions before boarding a helicopter March 20, President Donald Trump said the Commerce Department's Section 232 report on auto imports had no recommendation. It's possible he misunderstood the question and instead was describing his own position, which is yet to be determined. "It's up for review, and the European Union has been very tough on the United States for many years but nobody talked about it. And so we're looking at something to combat it," he told reporters. When a second reporter asked him if he was leaning toward tariffs on European cars, he said, "We'll see whether or not they negotiate a deal. If they negotiate a deal, a fair deal, that's a different story."