TIL Desk/World/Washington/ President Donald Trump is set to sign an executive order to probe China’s “unfair” trade practices that harm American businesses and have an impact on its intellectual properties, a senior official said today.
Trump, currently on a 17-day working summer vacation at his golf resort in New Jersey, is returning to the White House for a day on Monday to sign this executive order directing the US Trade Representative to probe the matter.
Trump’s latest move does not mean any immediate sanctions on China as is being reported by some media outlets, but might lead to one at the end of the investigation which could take as long as a year.
“The President would sign an executive memorandum that directs the US Trade Representatives (USTR) Robert Lighthizer to determine if it is consistent whether to investigate any of China’s laws, policies, practices or actions that make unreasonable or discriminatory or may be harming American intellectual property, innovation of technology,” a senior administration official told.
