From the Washington Post (link)
The Bush administration said Monday that China must do more to address long-standing trade frictions as a way of dealing with a U.S. trade deficit that has hit an all-time high of $202 billion with the Asian giant.
Administration officials said a meeting of top economic policy-makers from the two countries on Tuesday is viewed as critical although they said the announcement of some of China’s trade concessions may be delayed until next week when President Hu Jintao will make an official visit to Washington.
“He is coming into a country where there’s over a $200 billion trade deficit, and a lot of Americans are wondering where’s the equity in trade,” President Bush said Monday during a question-and-answer session following a speech on Iraq. “And, therefore, I think he could help the Americans understand the importance of a free-trading world if he were to maybe make a statement on his currency, for example.”
