A sigh of relief for China as one of the country’s officials confirmed on Friday that the months of unrest caused by trade wars with the US might have subsided. President Trump has suspended tariff increases that were to take place from 15th October. This is after negotiations initiated by President Xi Jinping’s administration in recent negotiation rounds bore fruit.
The Asia Pacific Economic Conference next month in Santiago, Chile, is expected to host both presidents where the negotiations are expected to be finalized. In Mr. Trump’s anticipated election campaign in 2020, a truce between the two countries may be inevitable. They are set to discuss more critical issues pushed by Trump to increase his chances of re-election. The Chinese government’s support for strategic industries and state-owned enterprises is likely to be the center of the negotiations. The Chinese negotiators, however, believe they have an advantage because of the US election. They also believe that they can stall the US Trade Representative and President Trump on reforms that they fear would weaken the Communist Party’s grip over the Chinese economy.
The negotiators say that 18 months would favor their interests and are lucky that President Trump launched his trade assault in 2018. One Chinese official said that Trump had intentionally put pressure on their country. He said that the US president may now have no option but to neutralize tensions between the two countries. He added that the United States is under pressure because of his re-election. China’s Gross Domestic Product growth rate may have reduced by a significant margin. It will be announced on 18th October. It means that President Xi also has pressures of his own.
The two economies are much interconnected and are dependent on each other. The Chinese, therefore, are cautious of Donald Trump. They don’t want to rule out the fact that Washington may ‘decouple’ the two economies. It is despite the faith they have on having a stronger hand to play. The Chinese vice Premier believes that Trump had disrespected him on five different occasions by breaking the agreements of their negotiations.
President Trump on Thursday tweeted that China wants to negotiate but left everyone in suspense by suggesting that he may or may not get into an agreement. He said that he would be meeting the Chinese premier in Washington. Andy Mok, the Chinese think-tank, wondered what the Chinese officials are supposed to make of Trump’s statements. He asked if he wanted a deal or not.
