G20 fallout: Trump gets a photo opportunity, Xi saves face, but what next?
But the U.S. did not give away anything lasting to China to get the meeting with Kim, he said, putting the U.S.-China talks “substantively back where we were before the May blow-up.” Clark Packard, a trade analyst with The R Street Institute, agreed that Trump and Xi didn’t clear any of the hurdles that led to the trade talks falling apart in May.
The administration could still concede more on Huawei — on either the entities list front or in the implementation of the ICT order — if Trump is willing to put the whole issue on the table, Packard said. Trump hinted as much in a July 1 Fox News interview by saying that a deal could cover more than just trade.
The economic situation in the U.S. and China has also changed in the past two months. There are signs the U.S. economy is softening, which puts Trump on tenuous ground as he seeks re-election, Packard said. Similarly, Xi is under pressure to demonstrate that the Chinese economy is strong and stable, industry sources said.
Trump also showed that he was willing to “go nuclear” by imposing the “List 4” tariffs, Packard said. The final tranche of tariffs would be the most painful for U.S. consumers because many of the products on it cannot be sourced outside of China and imposing the new tariffs would anger the largest multinational corporations. It could also compel companies to uproot their supply chains, Packard said.
