so a much more, well, bleak analysis from robert lighthizer ok, thanks very much indeed.re in beijing. let's stay in the us, where the economy is on track to post its longest period of growth in us history. but is boom about to turn to bust? gdp figures for the last quarter of 2018 are out in a few hours time — and they could show the beginnings of a sharp slowdown. one poll of economists sees growth falling to 1.9% in the three months to december — down from 3.4% in the previous quarter. here's michelle fleury in new york. we have the greatest economy ever in the history of our country. donald trump frequently boasts about us economic growth. we are so proud of the economy. and he could soon celebrate another major milestone, the economic expansion which began injune the economic expansion which began in june 2009 is the economic expansion which began injune 2009 is on its way to becoming america's longest. an economic miracle is taking place in the united states. but is this economic miracle built to last? while we view current economic conditions as healthy and the out

you said if robert lighthizer had all the cards and the power, a deal was harder. do you believe we'll stand now? >> no question that robert lighthizer is leading the negotiation in the sense that he's the man with the command of the detail but we saw just the other day that the president has the power to overrule him, even in the terminology of the deal. he was on tv, explaining why he doesn't like the phrase memorandum of understanding and robert lighthizer very quickly had to drop that phrase and get on with trumpian language, like trade deal so i think the big question -- and i'm here in washington, thinking about this, is whether or not president trump is going to overrule robert lighthizer and take a deal that lighthizer would regard as inadequate, as weak i very much hope he doesn't do that i think robert lighthizer has done an excellent job, driving a very hard barringen. and when he says we're not there yet, i take that very seriously. >> to that point, niall, the key point to all of this will be enforcement, what that mechanism looks like and thus that wh

we heard from ambassador robert lighthizer today. take a listen. much work to do if we are going to have an agreement. we have made substantial progress. we focused on the most important issues, the structural issues, the theft of u.s. intellectual property, intellectual property protection, agriculture and services issues, and enforcement, enforcement, enforcement. both sides agree that this agreement is worth nothing without enforcement. >> does this complicate any potential progress between the two? stephen: you know, it always does. implementation of every promise comes from the chinese, that has always been the biggest challenge. look at the wto commitments they have made, look at the implementation. as well as the draft laws going through the chinese legal system on intellectual property rights. we are hearing there are new nationwide draft laws being put , they haveing level not been implemented, but implementation and enforcement have always been the biggest challenge for the chinese. caroline: of course, what is interesting about who has t

trump and robert lighthizer are?> both of their statements can exist in the same world, even though they are a bit far apart in terms of semantics. a deal is not imminent, but they are closer to a deal than they were a few weeks ago. both of those statements are accurate. lighthizer is most likely more in the details and understands 0-page document they have still needs more meat on the bone. there is political uncertainty here at home and economic uncertainty in china. david: president trump might need a china deal even more not having one with north korea. at the same time, he is saying to the chinese i can walk away from the table. >> sure. all of these dynamics are interconnected, whether it's north korea and china or the eu auto tariffs and the iran nuclear deal. there are strings that tie these altogether. the president showing this strong hand to north korea will send a message to china. let's not let the work that's been done go to waste. let's put together a fair and viable enforcement mechanism and move ahe

trade representative robert lighthizer testifying in front of the house ways and means committee going between negotiations between the u.s. and china but that is an interesting factor that is going to play quite a role here and talks extend through the weekend, and a deal isn't struck between the two parties, the president is saying he plans to finalize some meetings in a face-to-face meeting with president xi xinping at mar-a-lago later in the month of march. it will be interesting to see if the testimony goes through but also if it does how it impacts the ongoing negotiations, if lighthizer indicates anything that may change things with china. so very much a sensitive climate as we're approaching this, but looking ahead, dialogue is not done. it is wrapping or continuing through the weekend. then you have next week. lighthizer headed to the hill, providing an update certainly what was discussed over the weekend between both delegations, looking ahead to the final meeting with president trump and president xi. melissa. melissa: hillary vaughn, thank you for that. connell: let's get b

we heard from robert lighthizer yesterday. the initial reaction in the market was he was lowering expectations of what kind of a deal we could get. he said if we could get a deal. what did you take away as you listen to his testimony? >> there is significant confidence with ambassador lighthizer. he has been very open with us. he is a long time skeptic about china but he is realistic. it is not inappropriate to lower the expectations. this is a long game and we are talking about structural changes necessary in the chinese economy but these are changes we've been waiting for since 1999.

it comes as treasury secretary steve mnuchin and trade representative robert lighthizer arrive in beijing talks. trump had previously said, if a deal wasn't agreed by1 march, tariffs on $200 billion of chinese goods would more than double from 10% to 25%. let's take a quick listen to what donald trump said. if we are close to a deal, where we think we can make a real deal and it's going to get done, i could see myself letting that slide for a little while, but generally speaking i'm not inclined to do that, 0k? rico hizo is in our asia business hub in singapore. nice to see you. so the markets are very much looking at the positive, and hopeful that talks will go well at the end of this week. that's right, sally. it was a statement from the us president that took the markets by surprise, that he could extend the march one deadline if good progress was made. in the past, us officials have always said march one was a hard deadline for achieving a deal to avert further tariffs, because both countries have already imposed duties on billions of dollars worth of one another‘s goods. but tariffs,

from the trade representative lighthizer and president trump, who says he is disagreeing with robert lighthizer. lighthizer is saying from now on, we will use the term trade agreement, not mous. i don't know what that is. do you know what that is? >> memos of understanding. liz: okay. great. thank you. i'm sure many of our viewers already know. i did not. lighthizer says memorandums of understanding are a contract, they are talking about a binding contract, they should talk about a trade deal which brings us to the point, chris robinson, what about a mechanism of enforcement versus just a memorandum of understanding? >> yeah, well that's going to be where the rubber hits the road, right? like president reagan said a long time ago, you know, trust but verify. the two things i think that they are concerned about are the continued theft of intellectual property and also currency manipulation. that's really been the kicker. at the end of the day, they have been a big buyer of our beans. i'm sure they would like to get back to buying them again. the catching point has been intellectual property. i t

high level trade talks kick off in beijing with robert lighthizer and steven mnuchin as president trump is weighing a 60 day extension to the march 1st deadline. lawmakers burning the midnight oil to nail down a border security deal. the details breaking overnight. we've got them. and valentine's day spending will hit record today. who is forking over the dough and who is looking to be shourd with gifts? the answer may surprise you. lauren: turn your attention to the nasdaq at the close yesterday. just 11 points shy of exiting bear market territory. it is up 27.5 points, dow futures higher by 84 and s&p 500 higher for day five. the german dax is up 2/10 of 1%. with german's latest gdp coming in flat, the country avoids recession. in asia, honk song the biggest decliner. stocks in china edging lower, although showing exports rebounded amid trade tensions. beware, the numbers could be affected by the llumar new year. welcome to "fbn: a.m.." i'm lauren simonetti. cheryl: good morning, everybody. i am cheryl casone. and, yes, breaking overnight, we finally got what we believe is going to be

he hands them off to like kaiser -- robert lighthizer on the 14th and 15th.re was positively -- positivity that maybe the trump administration is looking at canceling in a meeting in mid-march. that seems preliminary at that stage. china correspondent tom mackenzie in beijing. we'll keep our eyes on beijing as we see the great and the good of politics gathering there to talk trade. let's continue the conversation about trade and the impact of the trade war on other parts of the world. one of the company's most exposed to any downturn in trade. let's get bloomberg's yousef gamal el-din, who's at the government summit in dubai with guests. yousef? theef: absolutely, one of prominent names at the wgs in dubai. joining me now is the chairman and ceo. welcome back to bloomberg television. we are going into a few days of uncertainty around what is going to happen in this trade standoff between the united states and china. talk to me about the numbers you are seeing. incense, and terms of the health of the global economy? guest: naturally. -- are therey that in the

trade representative robert lighthizer the u.s.ficially register, they will not increase indefinitely the move from 10% tariffs to 25% tariffs on 200 billion worth of chinese imports. the u.s. indefinitely holding that at 10% right now. that will be official in the next 24 to 48 hours. liz. liz: we'll keep an eye on the markets. we'll see if that moves up on the floor. fairfax global markets ceo and cio paul dietrich. let's talk about your outlook, that we will see recession when, and how to invest around that? we're hearing from a lot of people that there are no signs of recession. >> i look at leading economic indicators, those indicators go down before a recession comes. as investment manager i keep the clients in the market when it is going up and get them out when it is going down. i did that during the 2001 and 2018 recessions by looking at leading economic indicators. we're still growing no question about it. we're growing and expanding but we're slowing. the growth overall is slowing i look at that, compare it before the re

then they hand the baton to steve mnuchin and robert lighthizer for trade.hey will be here for meetings with the vice premier. the question is whether they can extract more from the chinese in terms of the structural issues and enforcement. those are the issues. they get one or both on the table from the chinese, they could move things forward. the deadline is march 1. there was added uncertainty by president trump saying he was unlikely to meet xi jinping before that deadline after which tariffs could be increased. that is the concern. the consensus seems to be there will be some kind of movement that will allow an extension of these talks but much of it will hang on the trade talks in beijing at the end of this week. important. can the momentum we saw before the break be sustained? you talked about some of that momentum, recovery billion of value for chinese equities since the beginning of the year. they had a rough 2018. you saw the csi at 300, the shanghai composite above its 100 day moving average good given the trade tensions, what kind of start are th

trade representative, robert lighthizer. still china experts say if the u.s. moves on the march 1st deadline without an agreement, then nothing will change. >> well, you know, we've tried this approach before, taking a hard-line. it hasn't worked. the problem is, you know, when we talk to the chinese, they think that we want to engage them. you have all sorts of expectations on their side. they need to see a new attitude on the part of washington. >> both sides have said that president donald trump and president xi jinping need to meet face-to-face in order to finally settle this agreement. the chinese have blocked on their calendar march 26th through march 29th. lou? lou: ed, thank you very much. ed lawrence reporting. joining us tonight is dr. michael pilsbury director cent center at the hudson institute and a trade advisor. it is great to see you. the chinese today really have the field to themselves. the white house not talking. the communications department, the trade representative, and the trade ministry of china with 30 members in the delegation outnum

i don't think it alters the projection of what robert lighthizer is trying to do.wn to be a hawk on china. and i want toity hop into the bloomberg terminal. this is the future of the yuan. is alreadye yuan weaker than forecasts here. what mechanism do you think might be agreeable to both sides? beijing has promised it won't appreciate the yuan. lanhee: apparently they have reached some kind of resolution. there have been discussions in the past regarding devaluation along a similar line. the question will be is there may be some mechanism tied to other elements of the deal? or is it again some kind of external enforcement mechanism that will kick in here. if we are talking about u.s. and china trying to work with one another specifically on this issue, i don't have a great deal of confidence that it will not break down. let you go, your thoughts on north korea as kim jong-un and donald trump meet, what should we be watching for? lanhee: i wouldn't expect too much. the president has tried to dial back expectations regarding agreements on the freeze denuclearization

. >>> all eyes on three major hearings on capitol hill, trade representative robert lighthizer tells the house ways and means committee there is still work to be done on china trade talks, fed chair powell facing questions, even on some of them fed policy and economics. michael cohen is on house oversight committee. i haven't watched but i'm told it is an absolute embarassment for all. >>> tomorrow's signing ceremony, expectations are low and wall street likes that way. >>> should you only buy stocks with big dividends? i will go into depth in that and more on "making money". charles: stocks are off the session lows. lighthizer warned lawmakers it is too early to predict outcome of the u.s. china trade talks. meanwhile more answers on the health of american consumers. think about this, best buy, lowe's, campbell's soup, tj maxx, all trading in the green after posting earnings that wall street seemed to like this morning. i obviously think this is consolidation. the question is this consolidation before the next leg higher or should we expect a pullback. we have ben phillips, kaltbaum

trade representative robert lighthizer and treasury secretary steve mnuchin and chinese vice chairmance premier liu he. there is spokesperson for the chinese foreign ministry taking a conciliatory tone. we're willing to negotiate with the u.s. for mutual respect and benefit and for a win-win. out of the white house, advisor kellyanne conway also believes we're closer to a deal with china? >> this president wants a deal, wants it to be fair to american workers and american interests. he forged a mutually respectable, respectful i should say relationship with president xi and the trade team led by ambassador lighthizer has been working overtime to get this deal done. reporter: u.s. trade representative robert lighthizer saying the march 1st is the hard deadline to raise tariffs on $200 billion worth of chinese goods. there was a op-ed floating to move the talks to may 1st. that was picked up by a number of government newspapers. the u.s. not considering that. both the u.s. and china kicking around the idea where the two presidents should meet. "axios" reported advisors want a meeting at

trade representative robert lighthizer says he's firm on that deadline. the talks in beijing have concluded for today. these are deputy level talks. that will set up the primary negotiations on thursday and friday. that's when u.s. trade representative robert lighthizer and treasury secretary steven mnuchin will be in beijing. so far, nothing negative coming from china. in fact, today a spokesperson for the foreign ministry taking a conciliatory tone, saying quote, we are willing to negotiate with the u.s. in the spirit of equal respect for mutual benefit and a win/win. in the u.s., this is becoming a campaign issue on the presidential campaign trail in iowa, representative tulsi gabbard saying we need to make sure this trade war does not become an actual war. >> the trade imbalance that exists between the united states and china must be addressed, but the approach that this president is taking in essentially waging this trade war with china i think is dangerous. it's dangerous for our economy. reporter: also today, a letter was sent to the u.s. delegatio

trade representative robert lighthizer testifies in front of congress.e accepted the invitation this afternoon. out of china today post -- government officials said china will open the stores wider but deserves to develop and become prosperous. lauren? lauren: ed lawrence, thank you very much. connell: we'll start with you, heard from greg valliere's in edward's reporting, talking about what is turning to consensus here. if we don't get deadline first of march, may or june, there is a deal in place. what if the new concensus is wrong? how much economic risk is there if late 2019 we don't have a deal with the chinese? >> i think there is a significant downside economic risk. this could perhaps shave quarter to half a percentage point off of what will be a relatively low rate of gdp growth compared to what we had in 2018 and what would be very damaging would be a situation where tariffs are imposed on auto imports, retaliation to those tariffs would almost certainly create problems for u.s. manufacturing. connell: right one thing if the tariffs go from 10%

the next month. >> you can count on the president sticking to its guns and to be deferring to robert lighthize who we worked with very closely during the transition we can count on him being tough. he wants a deal. there's no doubt about it. the chinese want it more but he's not going to do it without getting those fundamental changes. >> such as >> such as the stopping the intellectual property theft, reciprocal trade, and free and level playing field. and for them to become more of a market economy >> dan, do you -- >> the opposite of what they've been doing >> do you, dan, really believe that china is going to move towards being more of a market economy in the next month in order to come up with a trade deal >> well, listen, obviously, i don't believe that your previous guest did not believe that >> i don't think anybody believes that. >> nobody believes that. so, you know, if you want to ask the right question, the right question is, all right, is the president going to cave on his demands? and the answer is no so where does that put us? that puts it in china's court. if they don't change

trade representative robert lighthizer. again, 30 people is what i'm counting in the chinese delegation alone. a spokesperson for the chinese foreign ministry says the two sides have reached principal agreement on major issues. they would not say what the major issues are. they are also saying out of china, the foreign ministry spokesperson, they are working on frameworks for multiple memoranda of understanding. the chinese would like to get to enough of a deal to move that march 1st deadline that the president has imposed to increase tariffs. reuters is saying there will actually be six memoranda of understanding covering various topics. one specifically, the forced transfer of technology. also, protecting intellectual property. another one would deal with agriculture, giving -- buying more u.s. products but also giving our u.s. goods able to get into their market more access. financial services, another big one that's being discussed in those memoranda of understanding. the treasury department would like to see not only b

robert lighthizer giving a

robert lighthizer testified on capitol hill. that it's too early to predict the outcome of the china trade talks. ryan with me, president of paying capital management. am i right in saying that one statement from lighthizer has done damage on wall street? >> delete the fact you said it could be an executive decision. i think that leaves little room where you get to deal with them very quickly. then they avoid negatively on the market and it's almost like minute by minute. you kind of see the market year ago. i think the market wants to go higher. stuart: you think that statement is an executive decision and an agreement, not a full-blown whatever else it could be. that's good news? >> very good news because if the deal is done quickly, in terms of the market, the way i look at it if that can be a big catalyst for the market to move higher. stuart: i want to get back to my editorial top of the hour. capping of the deductions. i am saying and i think i'm right, the 1%ers who live in this high tax states are screaming blue murder b

separate hearing, robert lighthizer says the administration is pushing for a deal with china that includes significant structural changes in beijing's economic model. president trump and kim jong-un is on schedule -- are on schedule to begin their second and final day of their summit. we're live in hanoi. withxclusive conversation the alibaba co-founder, joe tsai and why he is optimistic about the u.s. china trade deal. to the top story, all eyes in washington on president trump's former personal attorney and fixer, michael cohen, testifying before congress. contentions continue after six hours. we saw plenty of heated exchanges as cohead laid out -- testimoniesut including a bombshell on national committee emails. >> a lot of people asked me about whether trump about the release of the hacked documents, democratic national committee email ahead of time. the answer is yes. emily: plenty to discuss. i want to get to new york where our bloomberg executive editor is standing by. first of all, the revelation trump knew about this email hack. , rogerrding to cohen stone called the office and tr

leading the us delegation will be trade representative robert lighthizer and treasury secretary stevenuchin has acknowledged that a "wide range of issues" remains to be worked out. key among them are likely to be washington's claims of theft of american intellectual property and massive market distortions through subsidies and other measures. president trump said in his state of the union address that any new trade deal with china "must include real, structural change to end unfair trade practices". the news that mr trump doesn't plan to meet his chinese counterpart xi jinping before the deadline unsettled the global markets last week. without a deal, tariffs on $200 billion of chinese imports will rise from 10% to 25% on march 1. the un's trade agency has warned of huge costs if that happens. in a report the un estimates that east asian producers will be hardest hit, with a projected $160 billion contraction in the region's exports. there is a loss at stake. that lot at stake. gregory perdon is co—chief investment officer at arbuthnot latham & co. good to see you. give us your expecta

let's go to beijing now, where us treasury secretary steve mnuchin and trade representative robert lighthizer 10% tariff on $200 million of chinese goods in retaliation for what it claims are unfair trade policies. those tariffs are set to ratchet up to 25% on march 1st if a comprehensive trade deal isn't struck. michelle fleury has more from new york. a key pa rt a key part of donald trump's economic rhetoric was the loud and co nsta nt economic rhetoric was the loud and constant complaint that china treats the us on fairly when it comes to trade. he has picked up america's long—standing criticisms of the way china appropriates foreign technology and fails to respect intellectual property. and to that he has added a stream of complaints about the size of the trade deficit that the us has with china. but now was when rhetoric finally has to turn into policy. mr drum's man —— men in china, steve mnuchin and bud light hi mark, are tough to get them to do anything. the mood music emanating from the us delegation seems positive for now. that president trump has indicated that he might let them ——

robert lighthizer and steve minasian take over for the main event. the u.s. tariffs on 200 billion dollars worth of imports are increase up to 25%. both sides and mitt there is a long way to go. the u.s. is seeking changes to chinese business practices. veto of a planned merger between a french rail company and a german company spark protest. >> finance ministers are among those saying european companies need to consolidate to compete americanese and industrial giants. >> derailed. it was a bad deal for passengers. it would have resulted in higher prices that keep the -- higher prices for the signaling systems that keep the trains safe. past few years, -- submerged and ousting general election. the priority was competition. the murders have gone on to create separate companies. they refuse the merger of schnider and --. today, both companies are successful in their own right. us to beant competitive. by innovating, we can be the best. a merger is exceptional. >> let's take a check in on the markets. >> starling lost around 30% against the dollar predicting a

beijing, involving vice premier, the treasury secretary steven mnuchin, and trade representative robert lighthizerchina make make enough concessions. the u.s. is keeping up the pressure on china, hinting at an us or them ultimatum over huawei. secretary of state pompeo -- mike pompeo says it could harm links with washington and limit the availability of american equipment. huawei is a key base in europe. the trump administration is accused the company of espionage and working for china's government. >> we see that around the world. it also makes it more difficult for america. if that equipment is co-located with american systems, it makes is difficult to partner with them. we want to make sure we identify them in the risks associated. sophie: the u.k. prime minister theresa may is bringing forward a statement of brexit from wednesday to tuesday. she is not considering a customs union with the eu, a key demand of jeremy corbyn. dragging u.k. investment to the lowest since the financial crisis quarter. gdp rising just 2/10 of 1%. s the political ambitions of the princess is over, the electoral world

trade rep robert lighthizer announced a tremendous easing in the u.s.-china trade fight.nd then in the middle of this, the north korea summit and more, the president's former personal attorney testified the president engaged in criminal conduct while in office. also a rocky, wobbly launch to the democrats' debut of their medicare bill. democrat support for it is plummeting. it's now got republicans happily on the march against it, and democrats on the run away from it. what it hides from taxpayers is the price tag. also this. senator mitch mcconnell ripping into the green new deal as quote dangerous for america. the u.s. special envoy to venezuela warning the united nations what we have been reporting, the socialist maduro regime is freeing dangerous criminals from prison to use them as soldiers to terrorized the borders. they are beating, shooting and killing venezuelans trying to bring in humanitarian aid and food. the united nations is telling the world just that. i'm elizabeth macdonald. "the evening edit" starts right now. [♪] we have got you covered. rich edson on t

trade representative robert lighthizer on capitol hill today, told house ways and means commity it is too early to prediction outcome of trade talks with china. for more, we go to ed lawrence in washington. reporter: u.s. trade representative lighthizer said he will submit to federal registry formal notification to suspend further notice an increase in tariffs on chinese imports, in is no deal in place, lighthizer said, it is too early to tell if there will be agreement. >> if we com can -- complete ths effort. if, we might be able to have an agreement that helps us turn the corner in our economic relationship with china. reporter: light these are said a agreed to buy more agriculture from u.s. and he said they made progress on financial services, letting u.s. banks and credit card companies into chinese market, and now working on nontariff barriers and specifics on protecting intellectual property of companies as well as ending cyber theft. >> if we end up losing that edge where we're number two in technology, then, the world will look different for our children. reporter: just about

trade representative robert lighthizer and treasury secretary steven mnuchin will travel to beijing for another round, a third round now of trade talks. the president has threatened to jack up existing tariffs on chinese goods if these two sides cannot reach a permanent truce. >>> washington heavy weights are remembering former congressman john dingell. his wife says he died peacefully at his home in michigan yesterday after battling cancel. dingle was t dingell served in the house of representatives for a remarkable 59 years and 22 days from 1955 to 2015. he was a democrat and his district was home to the ford motor company. he was a strong suchltser he of t supporter of the auto industry, but also stressed environmental issues. he was 92. >> what a career of public service. >>> a ten year plan to address climate change and much more, the goals are big, so is the cost. when we started our business we were paying an arm and a leg for postage. i remember setting up shipstation. one or two clicks and everything was up and running. i was printing out labels and saving money. shipstation sa

but there will be a high bar for a deal, especially as it relates to robert lighthizer.really does want to see some of these bigger structural theft, the ip technology transfer, to be rectified. we know the president wants a trade deficit deal. he wants it to decline, he wants the chinese to be buying more stuff and helping the economy. so, can they marry those two things? maybe. it will probably take longer than 90 days. remember, they had a 90 days, which is a very ambitious a window if you are familiar with trade negotiations. it is a drop in the bucket. jason: and trade negotiations, even though they are completed, they have to be approved with the usmca. how do you look at that at this moment? libby: we have been saying since the president came into office that trade policy risk was going to be an uncertainty for the financial markets, and that came to fruition in 2018. not only is it china related, nafta 2.0, or the usmca -- you are, the dynamics there that it has been signed by all the countries, but it still needs to be ratified by the legislatures. that probably

mentioned, us tariffs on chinese imports, but of course next week, you have us trade representative robert lighthizer mnuchin living for beijing for talks, and everyone is keeping theirfingers beijing for talks, and everyone is keeping their fingers crossed that we will see more progress in this ongoing talks between the chinese and the americans and hopefully we will not see a full—blown trade war on the second of march, victoria. —— leaving. yes, let's hope not. thank you very much. now let's brief you on some other business stories. shares of the toy giant mattel have surged 19% in after hours trading, after it reported its best holiday quarter for five years. it's crediting a makeover of its barbie dolls — new skin tones, body shapes, outfits ranging from hijabs to space suits, as well as cost cutting. a us bankruptcy court has approved the billionaire eddie lampert‘s controversial $5.2 billion takeover of the troubled us retailer sears. the plan, announced injanuary, could keep more than 400 stores open and preserve up to 115,000 jobs. but some creditors had urged the judge to reject the deal, s

china's vice premier is the meeting with us trade representative robert lighthizer and treasury secretaryn escalation in the ongoing trade dispute. the negotiations are seen as potentially the last time the two sides will come together to avoid a march one deadline to raise tariffs on chinese goods. earlier i asked whether they could reach a deal by the deadline. we probably won't see any deal before march one because it is basically a week from now. if trump is willing to extend that deadline for nothing really will happen. we will have a number of days more to actually negotiate. but i think if they extend that, then we are going to see a partial deal that will satisfy those parties at least for now. what could be part of the partial deal? the first will be the us, where the china deal would reach buying a certain amount of certain us goods. more tricky as intellectual property rights. china will agree to do more, but whether they are going to agree on a specific timeline and how the us can monitored china's progress is the key. what about the bottom line numbers? president trump has al

let's go to beijing now, where us treasury secretary steven mnuchin and trade representative robert lighthizerdent xijinping later, as the world's biggest economies try to agree an end to their damaging trade war. the us is demanding more market access for its companies and a stop to what it sees as chinese trade abuses, including the theft of intellectual property. so far, the us has imposed import taxes or tariffs on $250 billion worth of chinese goods. beijing hit back with tariffs on $110 billion of us goods. china's exports to the us have been hit, but it's doing damage on both sides. us sales to china plunged a1% last month, according to official chinese figures out yesterday. and it could get a lot worse. the us has said that from march 1, it will raise tariffs on chinese goods from 10% to 25% — unless there is an agreement. china, in that instance, would be pretty sure to retaliate. so there is huge pressure to avoid an escalation. reports have suggested that president trump could be willing to extend that deadline for 60 days, to buy a bit more time to do a deal. let's go straight to

trade represent of robert lighthizer will be face-to-face with the race premier. he is also the chairman xi jinping special envoy. it is supposed to be a signal he speaks well of china and any agreement he makes will be followed by president xi jinping. the chinese want to get to the president donald trump to get the march first tariff deadline or increase tariffs. the present signal he might take the step if we are close to a deal. one big sticking point the chinese balking at the pace of structural changes that the u.s. wants. also the mechanism of enforcement. if tariffs are paused or set up to snapback. the policy experts say the chinese might also be testing the president's resolve to see if he will back off on tariffs without a deal. >> i think it's going to come in may or june or sometime in that timeframe. and i think since the president likes the drama, who's up, who's down, i bethink between n and may and june there will be a few days where it won't look too good. >> intubation government officials told a group of u.s. business leaders that china would o

meeting with stephen mnuchin and robert lighthizer, who led last week's talks in beijing.n chancellor angela merkel has used munich's security conference to defend multilateral institutions, fromng a standing ovation delegates. she took american protectionism to task, quote -- calling for cooperation to continue. mike pence drew a muted response as he touted american leadership and singled out chinese telco huawei. >> the united states has been and otheruawei chinese telecom companies. that touches data their equipment. we must protect our critical telecom infrastructure. ramy: the u.k. government concluded it can mitigate risks from using huawei equipment and the five g network according to a report in the financial times. erickson denied claims that restrictions on huawei products could see europe fall behind in the communications race. they have been backed by their finnish rival nokia saying they are already building five g networks. and japan briefly considered canceling trade talks with the u.k. this week after receiving a letter from london deemed offensive. they sa

as mentioned, it is crunch time in beijing as us treasury secretary steven mnuchin and robert lighthizer meet chinese vice premier tomorrow. riley waters, from the american think tank heritage foundation, told me why he thinks the deadline for raising tariffs may be extended. today the president said a few things related to the fact we might not have a trade deal by march first. one of the theories are floating around washington for the last couple of weeks has been the idea of once again delaying the potential tariffs from march first so potential tariffs from march first so you know you could theoretically perhaps have another 60 days or 90 days or we don't have these tariffs. the real question in everyone's mind is whether we will ever get a deal. the president seems calm and happy with the idea that the us is collecting billions and billions in revenue from american importers of chinese goods. so if that is the case, when do you think a deal will be forged at all? well, you know, likely if perhaps any time at all it might be something around the time of early march, perhaps early apr

as steve mnuchin and robert lighthizer are in beijing, ready and preparing for those talks premier, itisce interesting that trump talked about the potential of extending the deadline. from the chinese perspective, ever since this meeting between the two presidents, china has made a big effort at trying to downplay this 90 day deadline. there was an op-ed in the last maligninguggesting a of the western media's obsession with the 90 day deadline and suggesting it could be pushed back to march, april, or even further back. removed the tariffs on chinese goods. the threat of additional tariffs, they want to get that nixed. china watchers would caution against any expectation of major changes as a result of this deal. there is simply no sign of that from china's leaders. you have to bear in mind modern chinese history as well and the way that adds to the thinking of the communist party. we talked about the idea of low hanging fruit. the deeper structural issues are longer. there is a potential satisfactory deal for both sides. think you are right. i think we can put aside the question of bu

trade representative robert lighthizer.e have the latest where those negotiations currently stand. plus the trump administration not sure whether north korea is completely committed to denuclearization ahead of a pivotal meeting between president trump and kim jong-un set for next week. what intelligence officials are saying now. tax season off to a slow start but you may end up taking home a little bit more money than you think. cheryl: invest that in the markets because right now the markets has been and really interesting day. we didn't start off this way. we were dragged down first by wall street-boots alliance and dow technologies and dupont. a volatile trading session, susan. >> three-day winning streak for the dow and s&p 500 coming to an end. eight-day winning streak for the nasdaq is over. the longest winning streak in six months for the technology heavy index. earnings, lots of disappointing news on economic front. we started with the philly fed in negative territory. durable goods disappointing. losses declined i

steven mnuchin and robert lighthizer open talks in beijing on thursday.s cautious optimism that china may offer concessions allowing the u.s. to not impose higher duties. a bloomberg source says the president is likely to sign the legislation and use executive authority to fund additional border measures. he says he will be getting $23 billion for border security. i don't think you will see a shutdown. i wouldn't want to go through it. if you do have it, it is the democrats fall. i accepted the first one. i am proud of what we accomplished. top aide said's she will wait until the last moment before putting her deal the parliament. itv news says the move was discussed in a bar in brussels earlier this week. said thatmed to have may will ask lawmakers to choose between the deal and a lengthy brexit delay. she is asking for more time to renegotiate the deal. bank of england governor mark carney said brexit could be the acid test for the new global order, showing whether it is possible to broaden the benefits of transparency while attempting account ability.

robert lighthizer, we could spend a long time talking about that.g we were talking about earlier when we brought up the amazon story. there is this new report out. the report says a quarter of companies, 25% of companies given tax breaks and incentives like amazon in exchange for promised jobs, they end up walking back on promises adding jobs after they announce the news. that brings up the question, is it a good deal for governments to make, not only the amazon deal, but say the foxconn deal in wisconsin? turns out some times the companies as we find out don't live up to their promises right? >> you have that. more why do you give a special tax cut to one company but not to another company? connell: right. >> why don't you do it statewide. you get them coming in anyway? for a state like alabama which wanted to get mercedes-benz in there to show they're open for business, we get a big one in as lure for others. what south carolina did with bmw and chemical companies over the years. that is one thing. in itself, giveaway, not a strategy. patch, patch

and things have gone so well between the two sides to treasury secretary stephen mnuchin and robert lighthizer will get with xi jinping. we've got the whole story covered. the massive star know what much of the nation means big bucks for companies looking to disrupt the to disrupt a billion-dollar snow removal industry. the founder and ceo of snow high this year exclusively to tell you how it works. no more hurting your back with a shovel, really? d.c. drama as the leader of t-mobile and sprint defender 25th $11 merger in charlie breaks on the high price they may have to pay for the scandal. less than an hour to the closing bell. let's start the countdown. breaking news, we are just getting information from the treasury department receiving tax revenues are leading to another budget deficit hike for the u.s. government. treasury department shows the federal government is in the hold for $14 billion in december. if you look at the first three months of the fiscal year, the deficit has increased 42% from the same period a year ago. investors seemed to be taking it in stride at the moment, that p