The News
US President Donald Trump’s top economic adviser said Wednesday he is “optimistic” that a trade deal can be cut with China, as the White House continues to try and ease market concerns over a trade war between the world’s two biggest economies.
“I’m optimistic that we will have a deal with China, and I’m optimistic that we will be able to take the temperature down a bit and provide both economies and the world breathing space,” Stephen Miran, chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, said at Semafor’s World Economy Summit.
His remarks come the same week that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent reportedly appeared before a closed-door group of JP Morgan clients, assuring them that a trade war with China would not be “sustainable.”
Trump walked about his toughest talk on China, telling reporters Tuesday that Chinese tariffs would “come down substantially,” but would remain above zero.
Miran is an intellectual voice for the MAGA economic agenda, defending tariffs as a key tool in resetting trade relationships that Trump feels have unfairly hurt American workers. To some critics, his vision — more factories in the US and a weaker dollar that encourages Americans to buy domestically made goods rather than cheaper imports — has seemed like nostalgia for a different, less prosperous era.
A paper he wrote in November — one he wrote before he was in consideration for an administration and one that he says shouldn’t be seen as a governing document — argued for a weaker US dollar and a heavy hand on trade restrictions.
He said he didn’t agree with comments Republican donor Ken Griffin made earlier at Semafor’s event, in which he said that the tariff rollout had “eroded” the “American brand” and that it could take “a lifetime to repair the damage that has been done.”
“You’ve got to look forward through what’s happening now with tariffs, to the trade deals that are being negotiated, to the tax relief that is being negotiated with Congress,” Miran said. “All of these, on the other side of the volatility that’s happening right now, are going to create a strong economy.”
The Semafor View
Countries are reassessing how much they spend on defense and security in a world where the post-World War II order seems increasingly fractured. As governments struggle to boost defense budgets, the role of private companies is also in focus. The public and private approach to technical innovation could be the defining factor in any future conflicts.