This archive report was first published on 29 June 2019.
Trump and Xi Agree to Resume Trade Talks ¶
US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to resume trade talks after 'excellent' discussions at the G20 summit in Osaka, Japan, on June 28, 2019.
Trump said the talks were 'back on track' and that Washington would not impose new tariffs on Beijing's exports, at least for the time being.
The agreement was reached after a meeting between the two leaders on the sidelines of the G20 summit, where all eyes were on whether they would agree a truce in the damaging trade war between the world's top two economies.
Trump described the meeting with Xi as 'very good' and 'excellent', saying that the two sides were 'right back on track'.
Washington and Beijing will continue to negotiate, with Trump confirming that the US would not impose new tariffs or remove existing ones 'at least for the time being'.
The outcome of the talks was likely to be seen as a win, with experts cautioning ahead of the meeting that a full agreement was unlikely but a truce that avoided a new tit-for-tat round of tariffs would be positive.
Trump has struck a conciliatory tone since his arrival in Japan for the G20 summit, despite saying China's economy was going 'down the tubes' before he set out for Osaka.
He said he was ready for a 'historic' deal with China as the leaders kicked off their meeting and Xi told him that 'dialogue' was better than confrontation.
