Trump's tariff move gets China to the table to talk about opening its markets

Fox News:

China and the U.S. have quietly started negotiating to improve U.S. access to Chinese markets, after a week filled with harsh words from both sides over Washington’s threat to use tariffs to address trade imbalances people with knowledge of the matter said.

The talks, which cover wide areas including financial services and manufacturing, are being led by Liu He, China’s economic czar in Beijing, and U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and U.S. trade representative Robert Lighthizer in Washington.

In a letter Mnuchin and Lighthizer sent to Liu late last week, the Trump administration set out specific requests that include a reduction of Chinese tariffs on U.S. automobiles, more Chinese purchases of U.S. semiconductors and greater access to China’s financial sector by American companies, the people said. Mnuchin is weighing a trip to Beijing to pursue the negotiations, one of these people said.

Mnuchin on Saturday called Liu, President Xi Jinping’s top economic adviser, whose promotion as vice premier during the just-concluded annual legislative session essentially makes him the country’s economic captain.

“Secretary Mnuchin called Liu He to congratulate him on the official announcement of his new role,” a Treasury spokesman said. “They also discussed the trade deficit between our two countries and committed to continuing the dialogue to find a mutually agreeable way to reduce it.”
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We are beginning to see Trump's tariff strategy as means of negotiating fairer trade deals with countries who have been blocking access to their markets by US companies.  That would include the EU which has its own protectionist policies.   In the past, the globalists have allowed unfair trade practices in hopes that creating a large market for other countries goods they would eventually open their own market.  That has not happened.