Trump-Xi meeting at G20 may not go ahead, warns US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin
IMF meeting in Bali told that White House is still to decide on whether meeting between US and Chinese leaders in Argentina will go ahead
No final decision has been made whether US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping will meet at the gathering of G20 leaders in Buenos Aires, Argentina at the end of November, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Saturday.
Mnuchin, speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank annual meetings in Bali, also said that Chinese officials had told him that they did not want to see a further depreciation of the yuan’s exchange rate, an issue that the US has been very concerned about.
“I don’t think any decision has been made with regard to a meeting,” Mnuchin said when asked if the Chinese side had offered enough trade concessions to justify a meeting.
“To the extent we can make progress toward a meeting, I encourage that. There are no preconditions, the president will decide [whether to meet Xi].”
A news report on Friday that Trump and Xi would meet at the G20 caused a sharp rebound in US and global stock markets on the hopes that a resolution of the escalating trade dispute might be possible.
