U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods will continue indefinitely, a former American ambassador to China predicted on Thursday.
“I frankly believe that we’re in a new normal here — no rollbacks, no increase,” said Max Baucus, a former Democratic senator from Montana who was appointed ambassador by President Barack Obama.
“Maybe Huawei gets some relief, (maybe we get) more agriculture products purchased by China, U.S. products purchased by Chinese — that’s going to be about it,” Baucus told CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”
His comments come after the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin urged American suppliers of Huawei to seek licenses to resume sales to the Chinese telecom company. The Journal report cited people familiar with the situation.
“The likelihood of a deal depends very much on the degree to which Huawei is able to buy high tech products from American companies,” Baucus said. “I think China is going to be looking very closely at that.”
“China wants a deal, America wants a deal because it’s better that we have some kind of agreement, because that helps both economies,” Baucus said.