President Donald J. Trump joins Xi Jinping, President of the People’s Republic of China, at their bilateral meeting Saturday, June 29, 2019, at the G20 Japan Summit in Osaka, Japan. (Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead)
Bloomberg’s Jenny Leonard and Shawn Donnan report that officials from the Trump administration have discussed a limited trade agreement with China. The agreement could delay or roll back some tariffs in exchange for Chinese concessions on intellectual property and agricultural purchases. They write:
Some of President Donald Trump’s top trade advisers in recent days have discussed the plan in preparation for two rounds of face-to-face negotiations with Chinese officials in Washington, due to take place in coming weeks, the people said.
The discussions are preliminary and Trump has yet to sign off on it.
The proposal also would be an interim deal, which would freeze the conflict, rather than bring a final resolution to a trade war that has cast a shadow over the global economy. U.S. stocks advanced on the news.
The plan reflects concerns within the White House over the recent escalation in tariffs and their economic impact on the U.S. going into an election year. Polls show the trade war is not popular with many voters and farmers are increasingly angry over depressed commodity prices.
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