NewsletterAsia-Pacific

Confusion Over U.S.-China Trade ‘Truce’ Overshadows Busy Week of Travel for Xi

Confusion Over U.S.-China Trade ‘Truce’ Overshadows Busy Week of Travel for Xi
China’s President Xi Jinping and Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa, right, after the signing of agreements between the two countries at the Queluz National Palace in Queluz, outside Lisbon, Dec. 5, 2018 (AP photo by Armando Franca).

Editor’s Note: Every Wednesday, WPR Newsletter and Engagement Editor Benjamin Wilhelm curates the week’s top news and expert analysis on China.

Saturday night’s dinner between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in Buenos Aires, led to a 90-day trade truce and plenty of uncertainty for observers, stock traders and even Trump administration officials.

No joint statement was released after the meeting, and there was little overlap in the separate readouts given by both sides. Subsequent comments from U.S. officials and Trump himself have only generated more confusion, while Beijing has mostly stayed quiet since Saturday night. The White House said the two sides have 90 days to reach a deal or the U.S. would raise tariff rates on $250 billion of Chinese imports, from 10 to 25 percent. But an early Chinese statement made no mention of this deadline.

Keep reading for free!

Get instant access to the rest of this article by submitting your email address below. You'll also get access to three articles of your choice each month and our free newsletter:

Or, Subscribe now to get full access.

Already a subscriber? Log in here .

What you’ll get with an All-Access subscription to World Politics Review:

A WPR subscription is like no other resource — it’s like having a personal curator and expert analyst of global affairs news. Subscribe now, and you’ll get:

  • Immediate and instant access to WPR’s fully searchable library of 16,000+ articles
  • Daily articles with original analysis, written by leading topic experts, delivered to you every weekday
  • Weekly in-depth reports on important issues and countries
  • Daily links to must-read news and analysis from top sources around the globe, curated by our keen-eyed team of editors
  • The Weekly Wrap-Up email, with highlights of the week’s most important coverage, and what’s to come.
  • Completely ad-free reading.

And all of this is available to you when you subscribe today.

BEGIN YOUR WPR SUBSCRIPTION NOW

More World Politics Review