CHINA/G20/TARIFFS/TRADE DEALS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “U.S. President Donald Trump is open to a trade deal with China but is prepared to hike tariffs on Chinese imports if there is no breakthrough on longstanding trade irritants during a Saturday night dinner with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said on Tuesday [11-27-18]. Days before the dinner, it was unclear whether the two sides had agreed on a formal agenda for the leaders’ meeting after the G20 summit in Buenos Aires. Kudlow said there were no scheduled talks on the ground for their advisers. Kudlow, in remarks at a White House briefing, said Trump told advisers that ‘in his view, there is a good possibility that a deal can be made, and that he is open to that.’ The White House sees the dinner, which Kudlow hinted would involve Argentine beef, as an opportunity to ‘turn the page’ on a trade war with China. But he said the White House has been disappointed so far in the Chinese response to trade issues.”
–Reuters, “White House ‘Disappointed’ in China Trade Response Before Trump-Xi Meeting,” The New York Times online, November 27, 2018