Chinese President Xi Jinping during the upcoming G20 summit will hand President Trump a list of terms that he wants met in order to settle a rocky trade war between the two nations, according to reports.
Beijing will insist Trump lift tariffs on Chinese goods while undoing a ban on the sale of US technology to Chinese telecom company Huawei Technologies, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing Chinese officials with knowledge of the plan.
“We urge the U.S. to immediately cancel its pressure and sanction measures on Huawei and other Chinese companies, and push for the stable and healthy development of China-U.S. trade relations,” Ministry of Commerce spokesman Gao Feng said in Mandarin, according to a CNBC translation.
The US has been subjecting $250 billion in Chinese imports to a 25 percent tariff — with threats to extend a 10 percent levy to another $300 billion in goods.
Xi will also ask Trump to make more “reasonable” demands about the amount of goods China purchases from the US, the Journal reported.
American factories sent some $120.1 billion in goods to China in 2018 and $129.8 billion in 2017, but US negotiators are asking China to tack on as much as $300 billion more in purchases.
To sweeten the deal, Xi is expected to offer the US help dealing with Iran and North Korea — though he is likely to make few other concessions, as he has been under increased pressure from the Chinese political class to push back against US accusations that China is committing a host of trade violations, such as spying and intellectual property theft.
“The Chinese side hopes to set a tone for the relationship going forward,” a person briefed on China’s plans told the Journal.
Xi met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un last week — the first time a Chinese leader has met with the Hermit Kingdom’s leader — signaling an ability to play broker between Washington and Pyongyang.
It was reported in the South China Morning Post, meanwhile, that Trump and Xi are drawing up press releases trumpeting the lifting of US tariffs on China — signaling that the two sides have come to a tentative agreement heading into the talks.
A source told the SCMP that “the truce cake seems to have been baked” — but it was unclear if the leaders would have the cake and eat it too.
“The reality, though, is President Trump could always have a change of heart,” the source said.
