Tariff crisis Trump's tariff policy

US and China close to new trade deal ahead of meeting

The US and China are working to finalize the final details of a trade deal ahead of a meeting between the countries' leaders next week, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said. According to him, the parties are now close to an agreement that Donald Trump and Xi Jinping can review.

- We are now in a position where the leaders can look forward to a very fruitful meeting in the coming week, he told reporters in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday morning.

According to the US, the negotiations have been described as "very constructive". The leaders are expected to meet on Thursday in connection with the APEC summit in South Korea.

– These Democratic senators are embarrassing us in front of the whole world when they continue to keep the government shut down, he tells the channel.

He calls it a “disgrace” that military employees, who are “ready to risk their lives,” will not receive pay after November 15. 

Analysis: Trump's Policy Divides Southeast Asia and Strikes at US Farmers

Donald Trump's tariff and trade strategy is receiving sharp criticism from several analysts. Project Syndicate's Jun Du writes that the president's policy has damaged the US economy by underestimating how global supply chains work.

She believes that Trump's tariffs have caused China to permanently redirect its soybean purchases to South America, which has hit US farmers hard and cost the US its largest export market.

"Once supply chains are reorganized, they never return to their previous state."

At the same time, Bloomberg's Karishma Vaswani warns that Trump's bilateral trade agreements with countries such as Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam risk dividing Southeast Asia and weakening the region's collective influence vis-à-vis the superpowers the US and China.

"Southeast Asia has rarely been so divided. By individually seeking tariff relief from the US, countries such as Malaysia and Indonesia have undermined their collective influence."

Source: China likely backed down after new tariff threat

It was likely Donald Trump's threat of 100 percent additional tariffs and pressure from other Asian countries that caused China to postpone the broad export controls on rare earth metals. A senior American source told the Financial Times.

The countries' truce on the tariff area, which expires on November 10, is expected to be extended again, this time by more than 90 days, according to the informant.

- We believe that it would contribute to increased stability and predictability in the global economy and in the relationship between the United States and China, the source told the newspaper.