The News
US President Donald Trump floated talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping this week, as he hailed a “total reset” in otherwise frigid relations.
China watchers have long been skeptical that Xi would enter into a top-level meeting with the White House without greater certainty over the result — certainty which is unlikely given Trump’s sudden U-turns.
The US leader’s remarks nevertheless buoyed hopes that a temporary tariff suspension could be made permanent, and shifted focus to slow-moving trade talks with the European Union, with Trump describing the bloc as “nastier than China.” Negotiations between Washington and Brussels are unlikely to make progress anytime soon, Politico noted: Trump wants quick wins, which the EU’s multilateral negotiating style is ill suited to.