US President Donald Trump met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in a post-G20 summit in Buenos Aires amid rising trade-related tensions between the two countries. It was a meeting though that helped thaw relations to an extent with Trump reportedly agreeing not to increase tariff on Chinese products worth $200 billion from 10% to 25% January 1 onwards.
According to a report in the BBC, Trump agreed not to increase the tariff while China agreed to purchase a substantial amount of US agricultural, industrial and energy products.
The meeting between the two leaders, first since the trade war broke out earlier this year, was expected to ease the mounting tensions. According to Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, the meeting between Xi and Trump was ‘friendly and candid’ and that both agreed to open their respective markets. They reportedly also agreed to further ease trade-tensions by removing additional tariffs imposed on a range of product.
A statement from the White House also hailed the positive meeting between the two leaders and said that they had agreed to immediately begin negotiations on US’ concerns related to technology transfer, cyber theft and intellectual property.
