having said that, i'm happy that lighthizer is the man.e is sort of, he understands where navarro is coming from, he is pragmatic in the sense that mnuchin and kudlow might have been pragmatic. the news you need to hear from time to time? do we need to hear something time to time, hey, we figured out concrete numbers now? we have the framework but not a lot of concrete numbers? >> one is lack of that tit-for-tat we constantly had that was sending the markets down through october and november. just having that constant fear being reiterated, just that lack of it will help sentiment in the markets for people to focus more on the fundamentals. even toe we're talking about long term, that we're not having escalation that is useful in the u.s. economy. charles: this is not mao's economist party. xi came in with a battle, kicked him out, this guy talking more about prosperity. xi understands there is enough people in that country who have generated enough wealth the economy can't go sideways. a lot of people believe they have 100 years and they

lighthizer. peter navarro is a huge and mirer, as he said in public, a bob lighthizer and he will be backing bob lighthizer. who willr is the guy be able to translate trump's vision into real policy. caroline: what are the other crows coming from president trump with the auto tariffs rolling back? we heard from some of the big players in european autos like bmw at the white house, did we learn anything in terms of that focus? luke: there are two different these is. one is trump talking about auto tariffs which are largely retaliatory that have hit u.s. exporters to china. the u.s. does not export a lot of cards to china and most of a does areoes -- cars it from european makers. the second piece is, is this threat of national security tariffs akin to the steel and aluminum tariffs that he put into place? he is trying to use this leverage for talks. these things are all intertwined in that is one of the hard things. the administration is starting to get its head around this, but you need the eu and

lighthizer for the next 90 days leading things >> first of all, great to be with you i think it's clear president trump is going to be the one who leads the negotiations and the team will be an inexclusive team it's been a partnership of myself, ambassador lighthizer, larry kudlow from the white house, wilbur ross, and peter. so this will be a team that is very inclusive we also have people from agriculture and energy there's a lot of work to do. this will be a real agreement. i think one of the things that's very important is there was very specific understanding between president trump and president xi and now it's the team's job to turn this into a real agreement that will have deliverables, dates, and real commitments. >> one of the things that a lot of the articles are pointing out, mr. treasury secretary, was there really was a change in tone leading up to the meeting, a lot of our officials, you and others had been very critical of china. and china in the same way pushing back on whether anything would really change. was there a tangible difference in the tone that you could pick

if it is lighthizer it is about ideological confrontation.hese are different views. >> i chose the byte that we heard from wilbur ross because we got a lot of communications when he said that people listen in terms of specifically the 18 months reference to the nafta negotiations and whatever it is called, afcm >> usmca >> that was quick. people are hearing that and go 90 days, is it enough time to get anywhere you did hear him say at least make reference, of course they're not going to have it all wrapped up there is concerns about that to your point you say walking back but others in the market are less kind. they'll say there is a history here of not being honest and not about the simplest thing the lack of truth telling makes it difficult to understand what truth is >> who >> by the president. >> we are getting tweets that are not being acknowledged by the chinese much less confirm. >> when one of their strategies, if they have not done anything ever against us. i was the major ceo yesterday, listen, we don't want to deal with china anymo

if the negotiators with lighthizer don't produce a good outcome.d also know how his domestic political stocks are going the chinese think these things through in the terms of the final negotiating hand >> i wonder if it's going to be all smiles and cooperation and positive comments or whether he could be upset by something and flame tweet xi or china again. and we all know how he likes to negotiate. and 90 day, it seems like if it's not going well, he could theoretically say he's going back on everything to get him to move again the 90 days, i have no idea what to expect. >> i actually agree. if i was in markets, i wouldn't be popping champagne corks just yet. i think there is a ways to go yet. i think there'll be a lot of this, a lot of that. but i think mnuchin's response to the lighthizer comment about who will lead the negotiations was fascinating. mnuchin says a team. but i think i thipresident trum bought himself political head room as well to know what other factors he has to bring into the frame. >> mnuchin's first answer to that question w

lighthizer doing? i mean he obvious has a very strong view, and when will he come down on this issue? but my argument is that the momentum of the pushback seems to be very much underway. it's continuing to develop, and things that might have been problems are really not problems. the main criticism that we hear from the policy come from people who were associated with the previous governments. these folks are seen as sort of an awkward position because a lot of these things that we are criticizing the chinese for having gone on a long time. and yet the question is what did you do about when you were in power? so this is a very difficult thing to deal with any think it makes it hard, i think the people who are favoring the pushback view the people who were in power as being discredited in that regard. a second point a loaded inside baseball type of thing is that the engagement with china on the part of the executive branch has atrophied. in the past with all these components of u.s. government were very

and with robert lighthizer.o i did not think there is any chance that robert lighthizer will come out, it is all happy time now and there will not be any tariffs coming towards europe or exports to the united states. helena: that said, is there any possibility they could be going in one by one and making the case that the u.s. might be hit by those tariffs on european carmakers? it could hit u.s. jobs. would that be received? stefan: that's possible, but keep in mind the u.s. is interested in a balance sheet here. the president wants a balance sheet which looks slightly different than what he has right now. so he and lighthizer will make this argument. he will talk to german car czars and will say, look, bring production here. bring full production. build your engines here and your parts. do not export them from europe here. bring more jobs, invest in the plants you already have here, and do production and supply, the whole chain. do this here. this will be good for america and then we can probably leave tariffs

robert lighthizer said in his 301 report -- incidentally, mr. lighthizer, he always has about 25 footnotes the back up everything he says. he is one of these kinds of people. as a professor, i sort of like that. anyway, but the upshot of this is that he says china's economic practices are an existential threat to the united states. now, we all know here that the u.s. uses that language when it talks about soviet union, nuclear weapons pose an extension threat to the united states. so this sense of urge edgesy that china might dominate these areas and they are close to doing it argues that something needs to be done on the economic side. but this has big implications for national security. the strategy says that u.s. national security rests on this economic foundation. and so these two elements, i think, are new. certainly newly prominent. so the course of the past year, however, it was muddled how far this would go. the pushback was very muddled because first of all, public opinion really had no idea about this. secondly, the media really wasn't

bob lighthizer talks about this all of the time and mnuchin. that is essential. and i'm glad to see that a lot of american businessmen and women are talking about this now, the center -- i was telling jerry about this before, the center of that conversation is now moving in our direction. people are picking up on it. i saw my friend hank paulson give a speech on that subject and sound just like me. the interview of mr. paulson. that is good. because that is where we really -- i mean, i'm not -- i would love to -- i'll sell as much energy and l&g and soy beans as they want but the other issues, the ownership and the technology issues, the cyber, that has to be addressed. it is so important to the future of the united states and to our relationship and to any potential trade deal. i'm just saying, you'll hear other people from the administration, i presume they'll agree with me but i'll tell you that this camper really wants palpable, clear, measurable reforms in that area and not teeny weenie reforms. big reforms. that is the heart of it. now i'm not going to be a

i want to thank you as trade representative bob lighthizer and his entire team for their tremendous effort and the efforts that they have made all throughout the last almost two-year period. thank you as well to jared kushner, secretary of state mike pompeo, secretary of the treasury steve mnuchin, and director larry kudlow for their hard work and untiring devotion throughout the negotiation process. peter navarro, thank you for the work you have put in. and so many others. the usmca is the largest and most significant modern and balanced trade agreement in history. all of our countries will benefit greatly. it is probably the largest trade deal ever made also. in the united states, the new trade pact will support high-praying manufacturing jobs and promote greater access for american exports across the range of sectors, including our farming, manufacturing, and service industries. as part of our agreement, the united states will be able to lock in our market access to canada and mexico and greatly expand our agricultural exports, something we have been wanting to do for many years. this i

>> i think they'll make some moves but not in the way that lighthizer is looking for if you take histion 301 report literally. they want china to back off on things like made in china 2025 their plans to being globally powerful and artificial intelligence this is mart of china's future economic growth strategy and i don't think they're going to give ground on that. >> stephen roach, sounds like you have a class i would like to audit. >> sign up. >> pass, fail. >> i'm a tough grader. >>> when we return, ubs cutting its price target on apple, citing weak iphone demand. the analyst behind that note joins us next. >>> first, a look at the worst performing stocks in the dow so far in today's session they're comingup emtel, caterpillar, ibm among th more "squawk alley" still ahead. don't go anywhere. hey, what are you guys doing here? we've been helping you prepare and invest for retirement since day one. why would we leave now? because i'm retired now. so? we're voya. we stay with you to and through retirement... with solutions to help provide income throughout. so you'll still be here to

a real enforcer when you put them together with robert lighthizer.owerful, 1-2 punch of china hawks. in the middle of all of this is larry kudlow, definitely a free trader, but also believes that china is behaving badly and needs to change. in the free-trade side of the equation coming of jared kushner, steve mnuchin, who may be more inclined to push a compromise position. in fact, earlier this year, and china talks, mnuchin went to lengths to keep navarro out of those meetings. an interesting dynamic tomorrow get one of the things dangling before china, delaying to the january 1st rise in tariffs on chinese goods until april, to give more time for negotiation. white house officials say we will have to see how things go tomorrow before they agree to any kind of a delay. white house officials also tell fox news that there has been some movement here, they say little baby steps, but still a long way to go before the u.s. and china can reach a trade agreement. laura? >> laura: first of all, a fabulous outline of all the different forces inside the trunk

but i don't think that lighthizer or mnuchin are capable of handling this job.ongress who is going to be gunning for the white house with tons of investigations when democrats take power on january 3rd. at the same time, i don't even think trump ultimately will end up having a white house chief of staff. he could leave it vacant and say i know how best to manage this and return to that complete swing from the hip and do no real planning. >> so alaina, the point that evan was making, a very important point, yoouu've got a incoming democratic house. this white house is about to be riddled with all kinds of requests from capitol hill from multiple investigations and what have you. the incoming chief of staff for the white house is going to have his hands full both outgoing and incoming from the white house. what kind of person should the president have in that position? as i was saying earlier, you had a former military guy. he didn't last there very long. you had a political operative. he didn't last very long. >> that's right. it's understandable that nick ayers

trade representatives ambassador lighthizer, wanted to get rid of turkey wanted to kill that thing. he had butted up against it as a trade lawyer for years and that was a major priority. they had to let canada keep that. next he tried to make deep compromises that could affect whether manufacturing once to locate there. then decide on to rules that would require higher wages for 40% of a car. then decide on to higher labor requirements. >> host: on those wages it requires 40% of the car had to be made by workers who makes m6 an hour, correct? >> guest: that's right. we hang from our industry it's workable for them. for the suppliers. it will probably depend on the supplier because they get to factor in some of their r&d in some of the high wage workers will pick it's not like literally 40% of every work involved in the car has to be paid $16 $16 an hour but that s pressure on mexico to either raise wages or potentially lose some of its share or some of its growth in auto suppliers. >> i think that particular provision is more of a bank shot. the mexicans are not going to immediately

he put lighthizer in charge of the china decision. >> got nafta done, too. >> is it robert lighthizer a trade hawk and peter navarro a trade hawk despite contra tempts with mnuchin and kudlow is still there or is it mnuchin and kudlow who believe in much more of a free market trade policy. i can only tell you knowing donald trump his heart is with navarro and lighthizer. >> maria: he is the first president to push back on china. you've got to give him credit on that. >> i do. >> maria: everybody agrees china has been bad actor. market down 800 points are you a buyer in this market. >> absolutely i'm a buyner this market. >> maria: we will leave it there. good to see you. thank you so much. president donald trump expected to meet privately meanwhile with the bush family at the blair house in washington. tomorrow brings the state funeral at the national cathedral. ahead of all of that george p. bush, grandson of h.w. bush is with us next ahead of tomorrow when markets are closed as we mourn the 41st president. we are watching for fresh reaction after cia director gina haspel briefs sena

lighthizer as chief negotiator going forward, but what do you want to see in terms of the next 90 days as market participant in order to feel, okay, this market can be sustainable based out of china? >> great question, maria, i think the tariffs, we have to stop progressing and we would love to see them reversed. managements we are not talking about that in the quarterly earning calls, 18 companies out of 260 reported that said it was negatively impacting costs, but i think it hasn't trickled through yet. that's the biggest concern the margins, if we have full employment then we've got margins, you know, really being pressed by on that side and we need to see the relief in tariffs. maria: what do you think? >> we are seeing it right away. in our industry it was efficient, construction and development you're buying materials constantly, their materials that we would import from china that have run up 25% or so since the tariff discussion, so that -- if this gets resolved you will see big push in terms of real estate because prices have pulled back and even in spite of that the outlook f

so that's why i'm bringing ambassador bob lighthizer who has a long record.ight highser was already work on the japan unfair trade problem and he had a huge success there. they think president trump is super smart, they compare him ahead of past presidents. but they are really scared of bob lighthizer as well because of his success with japan. that led to a series of written agreements with verification measures in it. i think that's one of the goals. by the way, that's one of the areas of concession. the chinese said we are going to criminalize intellectual property theft. it's a big shift. they are talking about opening up their market to american companies more. trish: let me ask you about the public display president trump has against china. bob ruben who was the treasury secretary under president clinton told me 6-8 months ago that he didn't like the strategy this president had. he said it's too public. he said the chinese are always trying to save face. if you go after them as publicly as this president is doing, you are not going to get anywhere becaus

dave and christine. >> steve mnuchin and robert lighthizer are negotiating on trade. it is hard to believe they will leave those jobs. >>> president trump will meet with chuck schumer and nancy pelosi later this morning at the white house. democrats, republicans and white house have until december 21st to reach a budget deal and avert a partial government shutdown. talks are deadlocked over funding for a border wall. democratic leaders plan to offer $1.3 billion, far short of the $5 billion the president wants to fund the wall. down from the $1.6 billion they offered earlier. in a joint statements, pelosi and schumer says this, his wall proposal doesn't have the votes to pass the senate. and should not be an obstacle to a bipartisan agreement. democratic leaders say the country cannot afford what they are branding a trump shutdown at this time. >>> a bipartisan group of former senators working to defend democracy. they are warning that the country is entering a dangerous period with the investigations of the president likely to ramp up in the new year. the 44 ex-senat

is that the read >> bob lighthizer by statute is the official negotiator for the u.s.deals. just as he was in the u.s./mexico/canada deals so i don't know why anybody would have been that surprised that he was the lead negotiator. he has been acting in that capacity so that's not really news. >> i guess the reason people are reading into it is because there have been these clear signals that the advisers surrounding the president are split on their views of what should happen here every time you see peter navarro move up, people think it's more concern about how hawkish that message will be coming out lighthizer the same. when you hear from mnuchin or kudlow, you think maybe it's a more measured approach coming from this. again, that's speculation. that's how everybody reads the tea leaves i always thought of you as somebody who has serious concerns about what's happening in china and maybe comes down more hawkish on things is that a fair assessment? >> well, i don't think it's a question of hawk or dove there are a lot of improprieties in our relationship with china i

but they again are optimistic that with lighthizer in charge.en further than anytime in the administration he can potentially bring a deal home. connell: the chinese would think we have to keep that in mind from our point of view. good stuff. thanks as always for coming on. we appreciate it. francesca chambers, daily mail the white house. the protests we've been following over in france, look at this, really gotten out of control especially the past week and. this has been going on for a few weeks. an idea sounding good until people start feeling bad idea. gary b. smith joins us now. would he think of that? we raise the gas tax better for the environment and this is one of the ways we can pay for some of this often people say not at all. it's getting really violent there. >> exactly. i actually think, connell, this has become more than a protest against the gas tax. you have a country that is stubbornly held 10% unemployment. could you imagine if the u.s. had 10% unemployment just ongoing and ongoing. on the flipside he had have a government wel

president donald trump but later clarified his statement saying robert lighthizer would take the lead on negotiations and enforcement and treasury secretary steve mnuchin would focus on currency manipulation and other topics kudlow says he also expects china to raise tariffs on u.s. auto imports earlier this week donald trump said china agreed to reduce and remove the levees. kudlow yesterday said any trade deal with china must see auto tariffs reduced to zero. >> they'll roll back their auto tariffs, i assume they will roll them all the way back. that's an assumption i can't say with specificity that's got to be part of the deal here's a case where actions speak louder than words. we will monitor everything in terms of the score cards, ambassador lighthizer will play a major role nobody is better >> mnuchin told cnbc that there are several issues that washington and beijing must resolve before the temporary cease-fire becomes a more permanent resolution >> this is the first time we have a commitment from them that this will be a real agreement, there will be structural issues, nonstr

to come up with a written agreement negotiated by our trade attorney, ambassador lighthizer. they have a team. what they were saying in a statement last night at 8:00 p.m. at the president is quoting is that they are confident they can reach an agreement with us within the 90 days. after that, there could be wrangling and bickering if the agreement is being implemented. can get back to cooperation in some areas. there are other issues. the south china sea, human rights violations, the one million islamic leaders, you might call them, in these concentration camps. a long list of issues. the trade deficit can be solved. there has already been discussion of this. we can ask them to double their purchases of american exports. liquefied natural gas, or soybeans, airliners. long way too a helping president trump implement his campaign promise. host: the biggest demand of us. from them on us? we don't have to go through all 10, but what are the big ones? guest: they have complaints against the united states. story.s a very amusing president trump sent a delegation to beijing. everyo

officials they include trade representative robert lighthizer and larry kut low the european union is criticizing this meeting that says white house is reaching otodirectly to the car companies in an effort to undermine their trade negotiations. well president trump has threatened to impose punitive tariffs on german and european cars if the eu trade talks didn't progress. >> meanwhile, general motors ceo mary barra heading to capitol hill tomorrow for a meeting with two ohio senators. this comes after she announced that gm plans to close five plants in north america including one in ohio next yore and flash up to 15,000 jobs that was reported over a week ago and senators and sherrod brown are expected to press bharara to save the ohio plant as many gm employees wham. company's decision -- >> they're taking money from the american people and they're giving a small portion to other countries to build products to bring back the u.s., and if they just let the american people build these products, the american people will be a lot more excited about buying them. >> well shares of gm are d

lighthizer is one that wants to teach a lesson contain china it is interesting at halftime.esterday we talked about apple and apple turns around while we were talking we needed a tweet from the president to say that china is good and we got a tweet from the president. this captures us by surprise that every dip has been bad. every time you by the way dip is horrendous that's not what he's focused on. it does lead to a short squeeze. i regarded suboptimal with apple. china is going to give up the big stuff, intellectual property i don't think they well. they're big talkers. >> the journal makes the point, the fact that we had a phone call with the cfo of huawei still in custody meaning they are willing to silo it off >> canada and europe comes out against them if the president were wise about these things, easy to build the coalition and something that larry kudlow wants to do that's not really been things i think about when i think of our president. >> no. there is no doubt, the phone call and the separating huawei from the talks is certainly a positive >> yes >> jim, i wond

representative lighthizer and you have people in lock step with the president and in the middle of everythingef economic adviser larry kudlow who is free-trader but admittingly said that china is behaving badly and needs to change behavior and in the free trade side of things, international list side of things, jared kushner as well as steve mnuchin. one of the things that the u.s., arthel is dangling out there sweetener for china agreement or china dinner, rather, to delay the implementation and tariff increases which are scheduled to go into effect on january 1st, maybe as far back as april 1st to allow time for negotiation. a lot of people that that would be reward to china for having done nothing and they want to see significant movement. things i'm told are looking better than they were before but there's still long way to go before the u.s. and china can reach deal on trade, arthel. arthel: dinner, dessert and diplomacy. >> serving it all out. eric: more on this joined by john bussey, fox news contributor, john, we are heard john roberts report from buenos aires that could be deal, what

trump with with ambassador ronald lighthizer trump trying to reensure investors to get a trade agreementequest china. >> adding to investor confusion dow down and now negative for the year. taking a look at futures right now. dow down 69 s&p down 8. nasdaq down 22 and a quarter. >> stocks open lower in europe all eyes there on the u.k. vote in parliament to exit the european union. the london is down about half of one percent the stock in asia all lower. japan reported they contracted most in four yeebs. nikkei is losing 4%. aim at one government agency. >> i want to be clear. i do not respect the fec. i do not respect them. >> short seller in richmond knock remember that, tesla ceo on "60 minutes" taking shots at the fec could this create more problems for the car maker? fbn:am starts right now. ♪ >> 5:01 a.m. here in new york it is monday december 10th good morning everybody i'm cheryl casone. >> cheryl good morning everybody. i'm lauren simonetti. well the united states taking a hardline on the trade dispute with china a lot of news over the weekend on this. u.s. trade representative

trade representative robert lighthizer says that the firm deadline.es asking for very specific things. the white house sending economic advisers to spread the message of reassurance to the market. the point they are trying to make as if there is a deal that can be made that will protect u.s. company technology and open markets to u.s. goods. also, the u.s. will not wait around to make those deals hoping it might happen someday. >> president trump is really serious of people now come down to us he will take measures like the steel tariff to make sure they understand we want fair and reciprocal trading if we don't get it will never stand up for ourselves. >> the chinese foreign ministry says they are intensifying contacts in consultation. i've been told by a number sources that face-to-face meetings are likely to happen by the end of this month. it's unclear how far the meetings have to go for the president to coach back at march 1st deadline for terrorists going from 25% of $200 billion are going up to 25% on $200 billion worth of chinese goods. the bo

also present, top trade representative robert lighthizer. one of the reasons they brought him in the discussions because in advance they were gearing up possibility at least tech ceos would want to discuss theft of intellectual property. this is one of the top issues with the president's trade team as it relates to china and the on going negotiations there. melissa. melissa: you better get that phone, blake. it could be the president. connell: the panel, carol and adam back to talk about this a little bit more. carol, you know what i thought was interesting blake said there, if you're talking to tech executives you bring in your top trade negotiator in robert lighthizer and the fact that he was included today? >> i actually think it's a very bold move. i'm not a big fan of the tariffs but if you look at some of the moves president trump is making, whether the arrest of cfo of huawei or bringing in the tech executives to talk about things like i.p. theft and national security that is a very strong signal to the chinese to say we're very serio

shery: robert lighthizer now insisting this case will not affect trade talks. listen first. >> it shouldn't have much of an impact. i can understand how the chinese would see it. this is a criminal justice matter, separate from anything i work on or anything the trade policy people work on. it is criminal justice. shery: difficult to imagine this case will not affect broader relations. the huawei case is supposedly about iran sanctions violations but it is really trump and his administration that wound up tariffs and height -- higher ones with intellectual property theft. it is a complicated web of we don't like what you are doing, so we will slap on terrorists. -- tariffs. how you celebrate -- separate the items, it is difficult to cp weed won't get much of a sense from everybody. we heard from robert lighthizer, peter navarro and none of them indication much there is a fast resolution. doing a will happen to the woman? the court casew will continue monday vancouver time, and her lawyers have requested bail am a but it has not been a cited -- decided. prosecut

so robert lighthizer, is seeking to have really a nail down approach, and that 90 day timeline is notas long as the us and china keep having this kind of a confrontational stance towards each other. sir what does that mean in terms of where we end up? what is going to happen? -- so does that mean. well, this is not an issue that can be resolved within 90 days, as the us and china will keep on struggling to reach an agreement and perhaps an agreement is not what they are actually looking for, but more of a strategy towards... planned fans against each other, so from the chinese perspective, it was very easily seen from the arrest and huawei, that the chinese were going very much proactively to defend their cause, and this proves that their cause, and this proves that the chinese will not back down, even in the 90 day negotiations, whatever theissues in the 90 day negotiations, whatever the issues at. but now with the huawei arrest, how motivated is china to even try and meet the us halfway? they will try to meet halfway? they will try to meet halfway and goods trade, because thatis hal

i have talked to ambassador lighthizer multiple times.e details of the bill on capitol hill. he knows how strongly i feel that i am not going to vote for a bill that keeps letting general motors move production. they announced in july they were taking the blazer there. i sent him a tape that i was given by some people, a ground-breaking in mexico just last week on a new plant. so i want to make sure -- we're going to have to make sure that the legislation will keep jobs here. there are a number -- there are issues that we have with the bill that we're hearing about it. i know this behigh white house i will support it. if i can keep jobs in the united states of america i'll support it. i'm not there yet. >> gm needed a bailout. it seems like they're running the business profitably. politicians don't like the fact they're running this profitably. it seems this is flying in the base of the free markets, exactly opposite of what america stands for with you guys interfering in a private business. >> i don't believe in government interfering wi

the roundtable was hosted by the president's daughter and robert lighthizer. the ceos of microsoft, google, oracle, ibm, and qualcomm were all in attendance. it is unknown a president trump attended the meeting. joining us with the latest from washington is alex wayne who leads our coverage from the white house. what you think this meeting will accomplish? alex: it had a lot to do with trade in less to do with future of technology, the industries of the future, the purported purpose of the meeting. know whethered to the white house has a plan to resolve this trade war with gets in a way that truly at the alleged theft of intellectual property from china. emily: robert lighthizer was there. he's a longtime hardliner on china. what does that signify? alex: it shows that trade probably was the true agenda item the white house was expecting these ceos to come with russians on trade. it was not something the white house ticket will he planned to bring up, but they were prepared. emily: it has been a confusing week, a volatile week, do you imagine that the white hou

i think bob lighthizer is the perfect warrior to bring transparency and a solution to this issue.s the deputy u.s. trade representative for president reagan and he is the best adult in the room, he and steven mnuchin. erik: you know what i'm talking about. for example, the tweet about autos. he says the chinese are going to reduce and eventually eliminate -- has agreed to reduce and eliminate tariffs on cars coming from china to the united states. those are his exact words. the next day, steve mnuchin and larry kudlow are backpedaling as fast as they can. tom: i cannot explain it. you have a discussion at a very high level going on in english and chinese, and a translation from a very global level to a very business level. i am sure something actually gets lost in the transition, -- translation, but what is important is the dialogue. taking these small issues tweet by tweet or issue by issue is very difficult. the president practices dynamite diplomacy. it is startling and out of cadence for many of us. we would like a more monitored, thoughtful, and apparently considered process,

and so i think he's going to be a tough negotiator, and he's hired one to be his chief guy, bob lighthizeris, i think, tougher than any of the trade representatives that other presidents have had in recent years. jon: this seems like sort of a baby step to me, fred -- >> exactly. jon: not a lot of meat on the bone. are you worried this is really fluff? [laughter] >> well, i'm not necessarily worried, but i think it is fluff. i think you have that quite correctly. and, look, it just looks like so much more than it is. i don't think it will change, reflect any change, any softening in the chinese trade practices or the weight that the chinese negotiate than we've seen before. they'll be as tough and mean as ever. jon: well, you know, the chinese are coming off a really tough quarter economically. do you think that changes the dynamic of these discussions at all? >> well, that's a good question that i don't know the answer of. you would think normally with another country and maybe another issue it would, but with the chinese i suspect not. i mean, trade is so critical to their stature in the

also joining the discussion the president's top trade rep robert lighthiz lighthizer.eeting in anticipation that the ceos would want to discuss the theft of intellectual property. that is at the very top of the list for president trump and his trade team as they engage in ongoing discussions with china. back to you in new york. david: all right, blake thank you. how will the president press these companies about the bias he sees in social media? >> well, david, this is amazing about these companies who know the political world they live in that they haven't gone out of their way to make amends to every constituency in the country. in the old days, at&t before the break up in the early 80s made sure they ran ads in every magazine and newspaper, they were kind to everybody service was at the top. when somebody had a problem with a university that was perfectly harmless, they should have tended to it right away instead of saying it is all about algorithms. their tone deafness is astonishing given the vulnerabilities they face in this environment. >> i have to agree with w

lighthizer is negotiating with the chinese over thorny trade issues. moving him to that position would be complicated. >>> bruised and battle tested. prime minister theresa may has survived a leadership challenge by other own party. her battles are not over. she tries to convince european neighbors to reopen the dialogue over the brexit withdrawal treaty. we have nic robertson live in london. theresa may sticks around, but she is weakened by the vote. >> reporter: she knows and everyone knows 1/3 of her mps are against the deal she is working for. if she gets the deal through parliament, she needs considerable concessions from the european union. they smell the possibility of calling a vote of no confidence in the government and having a general election. when she goes to brussels, the politicians there don't have the power to give her what she needs. what the vote did yesterday was to throw into sharp focus the depth of division and how far apart everyone is on the brexit negotiation which makes it possible that britain will leave the eu without a dea

bob lighthizer leading these negotiations is important. longtime china hawk and has been someone critical of past administrations for agreeing to or being suckered into prolonged negotiations. it is going to be interesting to watch him now that he has his hands on the wheel. in about 25 minutes we understand that ceos from german car manufacturers are going to be at the white house for talks. .ou have your ear to the ground what are we hearing about the possibility of tariffs being imposed? shawn: that is the other big threat, these national security tariffs trump is threatening to impose on imports of cars from the eu, japan, and other countries. essentially global imports. the big victims would be european makers. they will go in and they will make their case they are big investors in the united states. bmw has its biggest plane in the world in spartanburg, south carolina. there are also one of the biggest exporters of u.s. made cars. they will be pleading their case. the deal with the eu and japan has been that trump would hold off on i

transportation elaine chao, secretary of homeland security kirstjen nielsen, trade representative robert lighthizer, small business administrator linda mcmahon, advisor to the president, you ivanka trump, senior advisor to the president, jared kushner, and chris lavelle. -- liddell. this morning the acting attorney general signed the final rulemaking clear bump stocks are illegal because they fall within the definition of machine guns that are banned under federal firearms law. began, in which people in possession of bump return those items to an atf field office or destroy them by march 21. propertions for destruction will be posted on the atf website today. appointed tos been the u.s. senate and we congratulate her. she has been helping advance a number of the administration's priorities, including rebuilding our military and increased border security. the president applauds governor ducey for his swift selection and thanks -- for his service to the people of arizona. with that i will take your questions. reporter: there was a delay, the usual inquiry from judge sullivan asking prosecutors if --

robert lighthizer spoke on cbs's face the nation. >> it is my view it should not have much of an impact. i can understand from the chinese perspective how they could see it that way. this is a criminal justice matter. it is totally separate from anything i work on or anything that trade policy people work on. for us it is unrelated, it is criminal justice. we have a lot of very important issues. have serious people working on them and i do not think they will be affected by this. haidi: our bloomberg news editor joins us now. the trade team attempting to separate church and state here. any grounds of hope? time just as we were getting some optimism over relations. ros: it did not seem to me from what the ambassador said that you can really dismiss the rest of ms. meng as a criminal justice matter. markets are skeptical about separating the two. we had president trump's in-house trade advisor talking about, really not taking ownership of the drop in the stock market, saying it was the federal reserve's fault. given really any ground by those men or by larry kudlow, the white house econom

trade secretary robert lighthizer asked about it. he expects the dinner to be a success, but he did not say what success actually is. here is what he went on to say. in the part of the quote that gets left out that may mean a lot at the end -- there will be a positive dealing on behalf of both presidents. in terms of doing a deal, that is up to the president of the united states and the president of china. saying it is going to be a success but not saying what that is. if the two presidents came out and said it was a success and we are going to keep talking, that may be enough to keep people happy for a couple of months until we see where all of this goes. sophie: still ahead, as we review the week on "bloomberg best," an exclusive interview with the saudi aramco ceo. the eu's competition commissioner talks trade, and glenn august shares his thoughts on brexit. next, more of the business headlines. president trump threatens to close the u.s. southern border, but bluster barely moving markets. >> traders are taking it with a grain of

trade representative robert lighthizer, small business administrator linda mcmahon, advisor to the president you ivanka trump, senior advisor to the president jared kushner, and chris l. on another note, the president is was again for filling a promise he made to the american people, and this morning the acting attorney general cited the final rule, making clear that bump stocks are a legal because they fall under federal law. begins now,iod where those people in possession of bump stocks must turn them over to an atf field office or destroy them by march 21. instructions for destruction will be posted on atf's website. martha mcsally has been appointed to the u.s. senate and we congratulate her. she has been a partner in the house of representatives helping advance a number of priorities, including rebuilding our military and increasing border security. the president applauds governor ducey for his swift selection and appreciates senator jon kyl and thanks him for his service to the people of arizona. >> is their reaction to the delay in the michael flynn sensing and they quarried from the

trade representative at robert lighthizer to lead talks with china.ho begins in tariffs as a way to gain leverage. here's what larry kudlow, the chief economic advisor said about him this morning. >> i believe robert lighthizer will be in charge of enforcement and monitoring and timetables. there is nobody better than him in the business and i'm sure he will try to keep china on track. they literally can start today. >> president trump, made very clear, is our lead negotiator. now i will go back to your question. nothing will happen without president trump and president trump by the way has been very involved in the details of this. >> the president also talking about the possibility of some future developments with china and russia, tweeting this morning "i'm certain that at sometime in the future president xi and i together with president boudin of russia will start talking about a meaningful halt to what has become a major and uncontrollable arms race. the u.s. spent $716 billion this year which is crazy. she just had a total grasp of the issues an

trade representative robert lighthizer says march first is the first deadline chinese to have something substantial how they meet u.s. concerns on trade. they want chinese protection of u.s. intellectual property and stop the forced partnership with chinese companies or the tariffs will go up on $200 billion for the chinese goods from 10% to 25%. now representative steve scalise on the energy and commerce committee says this is a perfect time to protect and level the trade playing field. >> it's all been about china really. when you talk to allies around the world. they all know china is the real big fish that you have to go catch if you get free trade. so the fact that they have got this 90-day detente, hopefully means they're getting closer. i don't want tariffs being used long term. reporter: market is trying to work out if this leads to a deal. the chinese are forced to sit down at the table and talk because their economy continues to weaken. since the meeting between president trump and president xi the chinese government released new regulation what is would constitute stealing pr

trade representative robert lighthizer says march first is firm deadline to meet u.s.oncerns on trade or 200 billion or dollarss in chinese goods will go from 10% tariff to 25% tariff. unite wants china to protect intellectual property of u.s. companies also open markets u.s. goods and stop the the force partnership with chinese companies. and representative steve ska is lease on energy and commerce committee says this is a perfect time to level the trade playing field. >> it has all been about china when you talk about allies they know china is real big fish that you have to catch if you're going to get free trade so fact they have this 0-day talk hopefully that means they're getting closer i don't so see tariffs used long-term. and markets try to work out if this will lead to actual deal, the chinese have been forced to sit dun and talk because their economy continues to weaken since meeting between trump and president xi chinese government released new regulations on qhald constitute stealing intellectual property also a host of consequences for doing it. we'll see