GOVERNOR TO BRIEF LEGISLATURE TONIGHT
Governor Bill Walker will brief the Alaska Legislature on the deal he has signed with the People’s Republic of China. The briefing is at 9:15 pm.
Bloomberg is reporting that the Alaska Gasline envisioned by Gov. Bill Walker is part of a $250 billion package of deals, memorandums and handshakes that President Donald Trump is brokering in China.
The AK-LNG agreement with Sinopec, the Chinese government-owned oil and gas company, or Sinochem, the government chemical company, could reduce the trade deficit between the countries by $10 billion a year if built, according Bloomberg’s sources. The trade imbalance issue is important to the president.
The details from Bloomberg:
- The White House expects to announce upwards of $250 billion in business deals in China this week, the sort of U.S. jobs-based diplomacy that President Donald Trump likes.
- Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross mentioned the number in a meeting with chief executives in China on Wednesday, but offered few details, according to two people who attended the meeting. A U.S. official confirmed the amount.
- Many of the deals are expected be in the form of nonbinding memorandums of understanding, not contracts.
- “Addressing the imbalance in China trade has been the central focus of collaborative discussions between President Trump and President Xi,” Ross said. “Achieving fair and reciprocal treatment for the companies is a shared objective.”
- Alaska Gasline, and representatives from more than 20 companies planned to accompany Trump, who arrived in Beijing on Wednesday and sits down for formal talks with President Xi Jinping on Thursday.
- Among the CEOs taking part in the visit are Kevin McAllister of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, Steve Mollenkopf of Qualcomm and Keith Meyer of the Alaska Gasline Development Corporation, according to a list provided to U.S. companies in China taking part.
- Trump has complained that China engages in unfair trade practices and has pledged to close the trade deficit.
- The deals are expected to focus heavily on the energy sector.
- One of the biggest deals the Trump administration is currently negotiating is a multibillion-dollar energy investment from Chinese oil and gas giant China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., known as Sinopec, that would bring thousands of new jobs to hurricane-ravaged areas in Texas and the U.S. Virgin Islands. This deal, too, would be a memorandum of understanding.
- According to a government document obtained by Bloomberg News, the announcement will include agreements between Alaska Gasline Development Corp. and Sinochem.
The full Bloomberg report is here:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-11-08/trump-team-said-to-plan-250-billion-in-deals-from-china-visit
