Top Trump economic advisor Larry Kudlow admitted that there is no trade deal with the EU, only an agreement to agree on items that are still being discussed.
Video:
Transcript via CNN’s State Of The Union:
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TAPPER: Let me talk about the E.U., because there is this deal in paper — on paper to agree.
Critics say that all that President Trump accomplished with this deal were to get things that were already on the table — as you know, during the Obama administration, including negotiations on the — with something called the — our viewers might not have heard of — the TTIP, which is basically a potential trade deal with the European Union.
Take a look what the president of the National Foreign Trade Council said — quote — “Most of this deal” — the stuff that you worked on with President Trump with the E.U. this week — “Most of the deal is stuff we were already on the verge of agreeing on in the TTIP negotiations, before that deal got deep-sixed after Trump’s election.”
Your comment?
KUDLOW: Well, I — I — I’m not sure about that. I don’t want to get hung up on that, the Atlantic trading deal. There are a lot of issues with that. I don’t even want to go back there.
Look, E.U. President Juncker, President Trump got together, surprised probably almost everybody in the world, and basically came to an agreement on a number of key items.
I mean, lookit, if the deal works through nicely — and it’s going to be several stages — I don’t think there will be steel tariffs for the European Union. I don’t think there will be automobile tariffs. I don’t want to get ahead of it. But the president indicates…
TAPPER: That’s not in the deal right now, though, but you’re saying long term? KUDLOW: It was discussed.
TAPPER: Discussed.
There is no trade deal with the EU
As Larry Kudlow stated above, there is no finalized trade deal with the EU. There is not a tentative trade deal with the EU or even a preliminary deal with the EU. All that Trump has is an agreement to agree to continue discussing a set of issues. That is not a trade deal, but the beginning of a much longer and more difficult negotiation.
Much like Trump’s “deal” with North Korea, his trade deal does not exist.
There is nothing on paper as a final deal that has been agreed to and signed by both parties. Trump has taken a minor conversation and blown it up into an achievement as he continues to inflate his record of fake accomplishments in the hope that the American people are too dumb to notice his failures.
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Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
