New Delhi: Chinese President Xi Jinping is in Washington this week for a meeting with US President Donald Trump. There have been a lot of changes since the two leaders last met 4 months ago. The trade victories that China has won with the rest of the world have been swift, and Trump’s approval numbers are low in the United States. The turnaround has diminished the expectations of achieving the top spot, analysts say, as Xi is under no pressure to “drop” anything and Trump is restrained by a particularly high cost war with Iran that has alienated both him and people’s wallets.
In October, the two leaders had last struck a trade truce. Since then, however, Trump has had to divide his attention because of various other matters such as wars and objections with Europe. At the same time, China has been struggling with issues such as sluggish domestic demand and continued blips in its housing market. Nevertheless, China’s exports have continued to grow with renewed vigor the current “China Shock 2.0” is no exception. China’s overall trade surplus is expected to pass $1 trillion for the second year in a row.
The United States has been able to decelerate the speed at which China moves low-cost packages from online retailers like Shein and Temu, but the number of the roughly 6,500 product categories exported from China to the United States is still increasing. Xin the trip to Washington, a delegation of Chinese businessmen is to accompany him.
The chief issue at the meeting on Sept. 24 is whether the two leaders will agree to further suspend trade, which helped avoid a greater shock to the world economy last year. There may be sensitive issues, such as Taiwan, that occur. At the meeting in Beijing in May, Xi is thought to have broached Taiwan matters with Trump such as arms sales and Trump has referred to a forthcoming $14 billion arms deal for Taiwan as a sticker Trump might use in negotiations with China.
Trump is allegedly “a bit concerned” about the Taiwan officials possibly exploiting the chip for a political advantage in upcoming midterm elections to Washington, COO Hao also noted.Japan’s COO Hao added that Taiwan officials are reportedly “a bit worried” that Trump could use that chip for a political gain before the midterm elections in November.
