Clete Willems Appears on CNBC, Talks U.S. Agricultural Trade Demands on China

Akin Gump public law and policy partner Clete Willems appeared on CNBC’s Squawk on the Street to discuss world markets and trade.

On the prospects for results from scheduled U.S.-China trade talks, Willems, who also serves as a CNBC contributor, said, “I’m a little less optimistic at the moment…just because the U.S. and China have had trouble coming to a solution on some of these structural issues and on some of the changes that China needs to make to its law.”

Regarding a recent cancelled Chinese agriculture delegation to Montana, Willems said that the Trump administration is concerned that China is too focused on short-term agricultural purchases, noting, “These are important, they help our farmers, but what we really want on [agriculture], in addition to the other areas, is structural changes, market access openings that are going to be long and sustainable. And, so, we don’t just want China to buy soybeans next week. We want China to say, ‘We’re going to recognize that the U.S. uses biotech for its soybeans, and we’re going to allow those to enter our market.’ We want China to not just buy pork next week. We want China to recognize that the U.S. treats pork with ractopamine, a substance they have banned. We want China to open up and say, ‘The U.S. is free of avian influenza,’ and they’re going to accept our chicken. So, it’s a whole range of stuff, and that’s a key distinction.”