Frank Vargo
Frank Vargo
clock colombia recognize
Colombia has to recognize that the clock is running.
congress fan flames matters pause waiting
Everything is on pause waiting for these meetings. If nothing comes out of them, that can fan the flames of those in Congress who want to take matters into their own hands.
currency economic government interfere plain reflect values
What we want the government to do is to make it plain that currency values should reflect economic fundamentals, and governments shouldn't interfere with that.
aligned chinese freeze next stars stuck time toe
I am hopeful. I think the stars are aligned on this. The Chinese have stuck their little toe in the water, and it didn't freeze off. I think the time is right for them to take the next step.
asian buy china consumer parts simply yuan
So many of the consumer electronics we buy from China are simply assembled there from parts made in other Asian countries. In yuan terms, that would make the parts they buy cheaper. So it wouldn't have much effect.
export growth imports larger positive rates reduce since start
Since imports start from a much larger base, we need more sharply positive export growth rates to stabilize or reduce the deficit.
address begin both hoping large missed progress sounds together trade work
This really sounds like a missed opportunity. We were really hoping that significant progress would be made so that both governments would begin to work together to address this very large trade imbalance.
arrive damage explain letter meetings monday next request sending week
We are sending a letter right now that will arrive on Monday to request a meeting. We'll probably have meetings with them next week to explain the damage being done to the U.S. economy.
balance election keeps trade year
It's an election year and the trade balance keeps getting worse.
saying seen treasury
We've seen this movie before. What Treasury is saying is pretty much of a rerun of what it said back in May.
access asking chinese flexible market partner property rights special
We're not asking for special favors. We just want the same thing that we give our Chinese partner -- a flexible currency, market access and intellectual property rights protection.
changes fair followed helpful individual relationship steps trade
As helpful as these individual steps are, they need to be followed by systemic changes that will put our trade relationship on a more fair basis.
serious
This is not what we wanted, and we have serious concerns.
agreement
I think a very important thing happened. There was agreement that we shouldn't be negotiating only on agriculture.