US and China agree to continue tariff talks

AKIPRESS.COM - U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping emerged from a high-stakes meeting Saturday agreeing to proceed with trade talks after escalating tariffs between the two nations threatened to disrupt the world economy, CNBS reports. The summit, on the sidelines of the G-20 meeting in Japan, was a continuation of Trump's years-long crusade to overhaul the U.S. trade relationship with China. He has long accused Beijing of unfair trade practices that sap American manufacturing jobs, and ran for president in 2016 on cracking down on China.
Nearly two-and-a-half years into his White House term, Trump finds himself embroiled in a trade war that threatens to damage the U.S. economy and hamstring his 2020 reelection bid. He has used tariffs to try to force China to the negotiating table. The president aims to end the conflict while forcing China to address trade deficits, intellectual property theft and forced technology transfers, among other grievances.
Trump and Xi agree to proceed with trade negotiations on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Osaka, Japan.
Trump said after the bilateral meeting that negotiations with China would continue. "We are back on track," the president said.
The Chinese state media, meanwhile, reported the two sides had agreed to restart talks and that the U.S. did not plan to levy any new tariffs on Chinese goods at the present time.