Sorry, But Clete Willems Needs To Focus A Little More On His Family And A Little Less On This Trade War

Well, yet another key Trump administration official is on the way out the door at a critical juncture.

This time it’s Clete Willems.

Wait, who is Clete?

Well, Clete is (or I guess “was” is better), the deputy director of the National Economic Council and he’s played a key role in trade negotiations, including those with China.

In fact, Willems has subbed for Larry Kudlow in Beijing when Larry’s health has kept him from traveling.

This of course comes at a critical juncture in the trade talks. As ever, this week found the financial media recycling competing headlines about whether there’s been “progress” on the remaining sticking points and whether the details around enforcement are still being hashed out. Additionally, the two sides still sound they’re at odds over whether tariffs will be lifted now or later.

The Trump-Xi meeting (which, you’re reminded, was never really “confirmed” in the first place) has been pushed out at least until late April.

Lighthizer and Mnuchin will go back to Beijing next week for yet another round of talks with Liu He, who will then turn right around and follow Lighthizer and Mnuchin back to Washington a week later for more talks.

And yes, that is in fact just as absurd as it sounds.

But one person who won’t have to suffer this absurdity much longer is Clete Willems who, apparently, is concerned about “the wear of frequent travel on his young and growing family.”

That’s according to “people familiar with his plans.”

One wonders if there might be other things that are “wearing” on Clete. I guess we won’t know until he writes a best-selling tell-all.