The U. S.-China trade dispute has cast a shadow globally.
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are sitting down for a highly anticipated dinner Saturday evening to thrash over a trade dispute that has strained relations between the world’s two largest economies.
“We’ll be talking about a thing called trade, and probably other things also. But primarily trade,” Trump told reporters on Saturday afternoon at a bilateral meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the annual G-20 summit. “It’s a very important meeting.”
The U. S. and China have been battling all year, first over Trump’s decision to impose tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports in the name of national security. Then in an action aimed solely at Beijing, Trump ratcheted up pressure by imposing tariffs on more and more of China’s exports to the United States.
The dinner has been moved up an hour, to 5:30 p.m. Argentina time and 3:30 p.m. Eastern, after the president canceled an afternoon press conference.
Heading into the big dinner, Trump indicated a deal was within reach, although it could consist simply of an agreement to put further U. S. tariff action on hold while the two sides start a new round of negotiations.
“If we could make a deal, that would be good,” Trump told reporters on Friday. “I think they want to, and I think we’d like to… There’s some good signs. We’ll see what happens.”
A Chinese official also sounded a cautiously optimistic note.
“The agreement part is growing… but there are still some differences for now,” Wang Xiaolong, director general of China’s Foreign Ministry’s department of international economic affairs, said on Friday.
The White House said several American officials will be attending the dinner: Assistant to the President for Trade and Manufacturing Policy Peter Navarro, U.
