Talks between Xi and Trump calm ‘trade war’ fears

Ahead of the first Xi-Trump meeting there was a lot of noise surrounding the future of US-China trade relations. Fears of a destructive trade war however were diminished as the commotion seems to have fallen silent.

Rising tensions fueled by Trump’s campaign rhetoric against China suggested the meeting would be one of his priorities in his first few months in term. Yet, as the two Presidents ended their meeting this weekend, there was little to report.

The Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said the meeting set a ‘positive’ and ‘constructive tone’ between the two nations for future direction. (People’s Daily)

According to Chinese state media, the two agreed to facilitate the healthy development of two-way trade and investment, to advance negotiations on a bilateral investment treaty and to promote pragmatic cooperation in infrastructure and other areas. Both sides also initiated a comprehensive economic dialogue.

The FT reported that the US and China agreed to speed up trade negotiations to produce results within the next 100 days. China will offer the Trump administration better market access for financial sector investments and US beef exports to help avert a trade war. Both are relatively easy for Beijing to do.

None of this yells ‘protectionism’ as originally anticipated by the US. The outcome merely suggests that the Trump administration is more pragmatic than the language coming out of the President’s Twitter page. One would imagine that any major worries held previously by the Chinese side, have been calmed.