Opinion | The US-China trade war isn’t just about trade – and that’s why Trump and Xi won’t resolve it at the G20

Neal Kimberley says the US-China dispute, from tariffs to Taiwan, runs so deep and the US is feeling so good about its position that one meeting won’t end it

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US President Donald Trump said he had a “long and good” conversation with Chinese President Xi Jinping last week, but that does not necessarily mean a breakthrough in the impasse between the two countries is imminent. Photo: AP

Published: 11:00am, 6 Nov 2018Updated: 10:29pm, 6 Nov 2018

Buenos Aires might be the birthplace of the tango but there’s little likelihood of China and the United States dancing to the same tune when China’s President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump meet there at the G20 Summit later this month. Hopes for a breakthrough on trade differences ignore the fact that there is yawning gap between the two sides that cannot easily be bridged.

“With only four weeks before the G20 Summit begins, it seems a tall challenge for the Trump [cabinet] to craft a deal when prior news reports suggested the Chinese had not responded to even one of a reported 142 demands from the American side,” wrote Cliff Tan, East Asian head of global markets research at MUFG Bank in Hong Kong on Friday.

That said, Tan feels that, with goodwill on both sides, progress could be made “but the idea [that] in four weeks, following a months-long vacuum in trade talks, the Trump [cabinet] can artfully put together a ‘deal’ to show a big win for the [US president] seems a tall order”.

Indeed, when asked by CNBC on Friday if Trump had ordered the US cabinet to draw up a possible trade deal with China, director of the National Economic Council Larry Kudlow replied: “No, not specifically”, adding “we are not on the cusp of a deal”.

But what was even more revealing was how Kudlow then described the current state of play between the two sides, expressing disappointment at the lack of progress on trade differences and reiterating the issues Washington would like addressed if US-China trade relations are to get back on track.

Larry Kudlow on the Trump-Xi meeting at the G20

Kudlow: There's no massive movement to deal with China trade from CNBC.

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.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;} Neal Kimberley says the US-China dispute, from tariffs to Taiwan, runs so deep and the US is feeling so good about its position that one meeting won’t end it

Larry Kudlow on the Trump-Xi meeting at the G20

Neal Kimberley says the US-China dispute, from tariffs to Taiwan, runs so deep and the US is feeling so good about its position that one meeting won’t end it