‘Trading’ table talk with Trump at G-20
Dinner with China prez over tariff war
Trade was on the menu for President Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping during what the White House is calling a “highly successful” dinner meeting in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Saturday night.
The two leaders capped the weekend’s G-20 meeting by forging a tentative cease-fire on tariffs, with China additionally agreeing to crack down on fentanyl exports, trade imbalances, intellectual property theft and hacking, according to the White House.
China will have 90 days to make these concessions — or else the United States will hike tariffs beyond the current 10 percent cap, to 25 percent, the White House said in a statement.
“Very importantly, President Xi, in a wonderful humanitarian gesture, has agreed to designate Fentanyl as a Controlled Substance, meaning that people selling Fentanyl to the United States will be subject to China’s maximum penalty under the law,” the statement said.
“On Trade, President Trump has agreed that on January 1, 2019, he will leave the tariffs on $200 billion worth of product at the 10% rate, and not raise it to 25% at this time,” the statement continued.
“China will agree to purchase a not yet agreed upon, but very substantial, amount of agricultural, energy, industrial, and other product from the United States to reduce the trade imbalance between our two countries,” the statement said. “China has agreed to start purchasing agricultural product from our farmers immediately.”
China’s habit of forcing mandatory technology transfers on businesses that seek access to its markets was also on the table, according to reports.
Here, too, China’s commitment was vague, with Xi agreeing only “to immediately begin negotiations,” the White House said.
The two leaders also made “great progress” toward seeing a nuclear-free Korean peninsula, according to the White House statement.
“This was an amazing and productive meeting with unlimited possibilities for both the United States and China,” Trump was quoted saying. “It is my great honor to be working with President Xi.”
Earlier at the summit, leaders of the G-20 nations signed a joint statement that supported the importance of the global multilateral trading system. However, the statement included concessions, most notably not mentioning the word “protectionism,” after US pushback.
White House officials said the statement met many US objectives, in particular language calling for reform of the World Trade Organization.
European Union officials said the United States was the main holdout on nearly every issue.
Trump also met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Saturday.