It's not surprising that "pieces are bouncing around" on the U.S.-China trade deal, but the measure will be reached "in all likelihood," Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said Friday.
"This phase one is relatively limited in its scope, and what's really being debated is how many limitations will there be on the scope of phase one relative to phase two or maybe phase three," Ross told Fox Business' Maria Bartiromo. "The devil is always in the details, and we're down to the last details now."
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump has not agreed to remove tariffs, said Ross, but the deal's first phase will be a "giant step toward peace and quiet with the Chinese. That's the important thing to focus on."
But the major focus is the focus on current trade, said Ross, noting that Trump was talking about the Chinese buying $40 billion to $50 billion in agriculture, which "they can certainly afford.."
"The question is, are they willing to commit to it, and if they are willing to commit, are there any escape patches to the commitment?" said Ross.
Last month, the two sides said they hoped to sign phase one of the deal during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Santiago, Chile, but the event was canceled due to unrest in the country. That "eliminated a very important deadline" and while taking off some deadline pressure.
Ross also commented on Attorney General William Barr's contention that Huawei and ZTE are threats to national security.
"We have put them in the penalty box," said Ross. "These are dangerous situations, as g is going to be running everything. It's the internet of things. If somebody can do evil in the context of 5g, they can do real evil to the whole country. We can't afford to let that happen.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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