Trump and Xi Jinping Summit Will Impact Global Economy
The introductory summit meeting between Chinese president Xi Jinping and President Donald Trump at the latter’s estate in Mar-a-Lago, Florida will ultimately have the most significant implications for the global economy. If Trump sticks to his campaign rhetoric, China and the United States are headed for a trade war, with dire effect for those two countries and the entire world economy. The atmospherics that emerged at Mar-a-Lago, give cause for cautious optimism.
Undoubtedly, Trump and his Chinese counterpart know the risks of a full-fledged trade war between the two largest economies on the planet. The positive atmosphere that emerged from the summit points to a recognition that hard bargaining is pending, but ultimately a stable bilateral economic relationship between Washington and Beijing is in everyone’s best interests.
The wild card will be if external issues, particularly North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile program, as well as Chinese assertiveness in the South China Sea, will undercut rational economic calculations.
