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Perdue says ‘enforceability’ is key to U.S.-China agreement

The administration’s insistence that China purchase 40 to 50 billion dollars of U.S. ag products is said to be one of the final hang-ups on the “phase one” trade deal.  China is reportedly balking at making that commitment.

Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue, speaking with reporters at the Farmer2Farmer Conference in Omaha this morning, said the big issue is enforceability.

“We’re looking for a deal that has some enforceability measures that say when we agree to that, and we agree to relieve tariffs, then you do what you say you’re going to do,” Perdue said.

Perdue says it needs to be more than a handshake deal.

“We’re beyond a handshake deal with China right now. We need to talk about what each of us is going to do in that regard.  And that’s the issue—that they need to say really what they’re going to do.”