Economics

Mnuchin Wins a Round in the White House Battle Over China

Treasury chief has vied for less aggressive strategy on trade
Trump advisers said to abandoned emergency trade measure

Mnuchin expressed confidence in using legislation to curb Chinese investment in the U.S. Kevin Cirilli reports.(Source: Bloomberg)

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By Saleha Mohsin, Jennifer Jacobs, Jenny Leonard, and Nick Wadhams

June 27, 2018 at 11:28 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin won a battle inside the Trump administration over trade policy this week after a series of setbacks as he tries to ease economic tensions with China.

Most of President Donald Trump’s top advisers had decided by Monday to recommend he invoke emergency powers under an obscure 1977 law to block China from acquiring U.S. technology companies and their intellectual property. But by Tuesday evening, Mnuchin had forged an about-face, according to two people familiar with the deliberations.