The American president’s trip to Asia already started from Malaysia on Saturday and will be followed by Japan and South Korea, where he will also have a meeting with his Chinese counterpart, the stakes of which are considered critical for the global economy.
As the world’s top two economies seek to reduce tensions between them, which have escalated since Trump returned to power last January, in pursuit of a trade deal that has so far failed to be reached, on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in South Korea.
“I think we’re going to get along really well and everybody’s going to be very happy,” Trump said Thursday of the first face-to-face meeting between the two leaders in his second term. Although they have spoken by phone twice this year, the last time they met was in 2019.
“This is a high-risk, high-reward meeting,” Han Shen Lin, China director of global consultancy The Asia Group, told NBC. “Both sides will try to press the ‘reset button'” for a relationship that has been shaken, he added, while avoiding “any major concession”.
Trump told reporters last Sunday that rare earths, fentanyl, soybeans and the Taiwan issue are . A senior Taiwanese foreign affairs official said Tuesday that Taipei is in contact with Washington and will closely monitor the upcoming meeting.
At a news conference on China’s economic development plan on Friday, Commerce Minister Wang Wentao stressed that the US and China could still find ways to talk and cooperate, rather than drifting apart. Meanwhile, a delegation led by Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, the country’s top trade negotiator, is meeting with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in Malaysia these days to discuss trade and economic issues.
De-escalation on the horizon?
with both sides seeking to gather “strong papers” ahead of the upcoming crucial negotiations, as French Monde explains. However, the confirmation of the Trump-Xi meeting signals an intention to de-escalate, according to analysts.
China may commit to making some concessions, such as buying agricultural products or investing in the U.S., noted Dan Wang of consultancy Eurasia Group, while Washington could consider easing technology restrictions on China.
Beijing in early October dramatically expanded its restrictions on exports of rare earths and related technologies, and Trump retaliated with threats of additional 100 percent tariffs on Chinese goods. Bessent condemned China’s move as an attempt to weaken the global economy in order to “pull everyone else down with it”.
The New York Times reports that the Trump administration is also looking into the manufacturing of US software in China and is reportedly planning to launch a trade investigation into China’s failure to live up to the terms of a trade deal signed during Trump’s first term.
In fact, earlier in October, the US president had expressed the possibility of canceling his meeting with Xi. But in recent days Trump appears to have softened his rhetoric, touting his “excellent relationship” with Xi and saying he expects the talks to lead to a “good deal” on trade. Last Wednesday he said he hoped for an agreement with Xi on “everything” and that the Chinese leader could have “great influence” in persuading Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine.
