CHINA/G20/JAPAN/TARIFFS/TRADE WAR/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are both facing intense domestic pressure to de-escalate the trade war between their countries as they prepare to meet on Saturday [6-29-19] in Japan. Trump needs China to make vast structural changes to its economy while also buying more U.S. farm and manufactured goods. Xi needs Trump to lift the tariffs he has put on Chinese imports. With the economic strain mounting on both sides, the two are widely expected to use the G-20 summit in Osaka as an opportunity to start talking again after negotiations broke off abruptly in May. In one sign of a thaw, Robert Lighthizer and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He spoke by phone on Monday [6-24-19]. Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin are expected to meet with their Chinese counterparts in Osaka before Trump and Xi meet…In a briefing call with reporters on Monday, a senior administration official said Trump is ‘comfortable with any outcome’ of the meeting with Xi because the U.S. is in a strong position. But Trump’s trade war is facing mounting criticism at home. The U.S. government has collected billions of dollars of additional tariff revenue, but that barely has made a dent in the nation’s skyrocketing budget deficit as a result of Trump’s tax cuts and increased federal spending.”
–Doug Palmer, “Trump and Xi to meet as trade war damage grows,” Politico, June 25, 2019 11:15 am