RandomGuy
02-24-2019, 09:41 AM
(cringe)
That was... embarrassing.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-02-22/trump-s-trade-chief-lectures-his-boss-and-gets-earful-in-return
An exasperated Robert Lighthizer, the U.S. trade representative, tried to gently educate his boss, Donald Trump, on the meaning of a “memorandum of understanding” in the Oval Office on Friday, leading to a presidential lecture in front of television cameras and a top Chinese official.
The exchange between the president and his top trade negotiator unfolded Friday when the president was asked during a meeting with a Chinese trade delegation about how long so-called memorandums of understanding would last in an eventual accord with Beijing. Negotiators have been drafting MOUs on areas such as agriculture, non-tariff barriers, services, technology transfer, currency and intellectual property as the two nations work toward a deal.
Trump told gathered reporters that the memorandums would “be very short term. I don’t like MOUs because they don’t mean anything. To me, they don’t mean anything.”
Lighthizer then jumped in to defend the strategy, with Trump looking on. “An MOU is a binding agreement between two people,” he said. “It’s detailed. It covers everything in great detail. It’s a legal term. It’s a contract.”
But the president, unswayed, fired back at Lighthizer. “By the way I disagree,” Trump said.
The top Chinese negotiator, Vice Premier Liu He, laughed out loud.
“The real question is, Bob,” Trump said, “how long will it take to put that into a final binding contract?”
Watch the exchange. It is worse than the above summary indicates.
That was... embarrassing.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-02-22/trump-s-trade-chief-lectures-his-boss-and-gets-earful-in-return
An exasperated Robert Lighthizer, the U.S. trade representative, tried to gently educate his boss, Donald Trump, on the meaning of a “memorandum of understanding” in the Oval Office on Friday, leading to a presidential lecture in front of television cameras and a top Chinese official.
The exchange between the president and his top trade negotiator unfolded Friday when the president was asked during a meeting with a Chinese trade delegation about how long so-called memorandums of understanding would last in an eventual accord with Beijing. Negotiators have been drafting MOUs on areas such as agriculture, non-tariff barriers, services, technology transfer, currency and intellectual property as the two nations work toward a deal.
Trump told gathered reporters that the memorandums would “be very short term. I don’t like MOUs because they don’t mean anything. To me, they don’t mean anything.”
Lighthizer then jumped in to defend the strategy, with Trump looking on. “An MOU is a binding agreement between two people,” he said. “It’s detailed. It covers everything in great detail. It’s a legal term. It’s a contract.”
But the president, unswayed, fired back at Lighthizer. “By the way I disagree,” Trump said.
The top Chinese negotiator, Vice Premier Liu He, laughed out loud.
“The real question is, Bob,” Trump said, “how long will it take to put that into a final binding contract?”
Watch the exchange. It is worse than the above summary indicates.