With Trump set for his most important meeting with a foreign leader tomorrow,, when he will meet China’s president Xi Jinping at Mar-A-Lago, Goldman’s Alec Philips lays out the agenda for what to expect and key deliverables from tomorrow’s meeting.
Markets are focused on the meeting this Thursday and Friday between US President Trump and Chinese President Xi, which stands as a key event in a vital global bilateral relationship–between the two countries that represent the world’s two largest economies and two largest militaries. The meeting will mark the start of a new US-China dialogue but, in our view, the probability of significant breakthroughs seems low in light of the still-evolving nature of the Trump Administration’s policy toward China and the limited amount of interaction to date. Indeed, comments from senior officials at a White House press briefing held yesterday described it as an “introductory meeting” and an opportunity to “set a framework for discussions on trade and investment”, and indicated that “President Trump really views this meeting as a first step”.
President Trump has signaled a desire to fundamentally shift aspects of the relationship, particularly regarding economic and trade-related issues. Chinese policy has become increasingly assertive, both economically and geopolitically, but in light of upcoming leadership changes ahead of this autumn’s 19th Party Congress, President Xi is apt to be keen to preserve aspects of the status quo and avoid disruptive changes.
This post was published at Zero Hedge on Apr 5, 2017.
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