WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Donald Trump does not intend to trade away U.S. jobs for China’s help on North Korea, U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said on Monday, adding that there were “constructive” talks with Beijing underway on trade issues.
In an interview with CNBC, Ross rowed back from Trump’s comments in a CBS interview on Saturday that China’s help on North Korea “trumps trade.”
Asked if the need for China’s help to contain threats from North Korea had made it more difficult to be tough with Beijing on trade issues, Ross said he did not think so.
“We’ve been having some very constructive discussions on trade with the Chinese in parallel” to discussions on North Korea, Ross told CNBC.
