Reports revealed that the United States and China have reached an agreement to temporarily put a stop on their trade war. Sources said the truce was to give way to the meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G-20 summit in Japan this weekend.
According to a report by the South China Morning Post, a source familiar with the matter said the Chinese president will hold a meeting with the U.S. leader should Washinton agree to such tentative agreement. Thus, this would halt new tariffs imposed by Trump on $300 billion worth of Chinese goods. Trump announced the increased tariff via his personal Twitter account last May. He said China “broke the deal”. In retaliation to Trump’s move, China hit back with increased tariffs on U.S. goods worth $60 billion which took effect on June 1.
A spokesman from the White House told reporters Wednesday that the much-anticipated meeting between Trump and Xi will happen at 11:30 (GMT+9) this coming Saturday. The meeting will focus on reaching a trade deal. Trump on Wednesday said a deal is possible this weekend. However, if the two economic powerhouses continue to disagree, he wouldn’t hesitate to impose tariffs on all remaining Chinese imports. The U.S. and China have been engaged in a trade war for nearly a year.
Trump’s Meetings
Trump, who prefers one-on-one meetings, will hold a total of nine bilateral meetings in Japan. He will have dinner with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Thursday, White House spokesman Hogan Gidley said. He added that Trump is also set to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin at 2 PM (Japan time) on Friday. A bilateral meeting between the U.S. president and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will also take place on Friday.
Trump also added a bilateral meeting with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Friday to his schedule.
