(This post may contain disputed claims. We make no assertions as to the validity of the information presented by our Opinion Columnist. We are an opinion blog, not a traditional news outlet, and this post should be treated as such. Enjoy.)President Donald Trump claimed another huge victory over the weekend at the G-20 Summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina. After a two-and-a-half-hour meeting on Saturday night, Chinese President Xi Jinping finally threw in the towel, conceding to his American counterpart in their bitter trade battle.
President Donald Trump reached a major agreement while meeting with the world’s top leaders over the weekend at the G-20 Summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina. According to The Daily Caller, Trump was able to extract a number of concessions from Chinese President Xi Jinping in exchange for not imposing any new tariffs on Chinese goods.
Trump and Xi spoke for two-and-a-half hours on Saturday night, an hour longer than previously scheduled, but it turned out to be time well spent, as POTUS left the room the undisputed winner of their negotiations. The meeting has temporarily staved off an escalating trade battle between the world’s two biggest economies.
Xi agreed to immediately begin buying more agricultural products from American farmers and pledged to purchase more industrial and energy products, which will help correct the current trade imbalance between China and the United States. Xi also agreed to a number of cybersecurity and property theft concessions.
Additionally, China has also agreed to label the opioid fentanyl as a controlled substance, making anyone who sells fentanyl to the U.S. subject to harsher penalties under Chinese law. The labeling will help the federal government as it fights the historic death rate from opioid overdoses.
“This was an amazing and productive meeting with unlimited possibilities for both the United States and China,” Trump said after his longer-than-expected conversation with the Chinese president. “It is my great honor to be working with President Xi.”
President Trump left the Group of 20 summit in Argentina with an agreement not to raise tariffs on Chinese goods in the next 90 days, the White House said. The deal amounts to a cease-fire in the series of escalating, tit-for-tat tariffs the U.S. and China have imposed on each other’s goods throughout the year.
Before Trump met his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, the U.S. had been scheduled to increase tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese goods from 10 percent to 25 percent on Jan. 1. The agreement keeps those tariffs at 10 percent for at least the next 90 days while the countries negotiate further. The White House also says China has agreed to buy more American goods, although it did not specify how much.
Trump called Saturday night’s two-and-a-half dinner meeting — an hour longer than scheduled — “amazing and productive.” China also agreed to label the opioid fentanyl a controlled substance, which the White House called “a wonderful humanitarian gesture.” [Source: NPR]
“The President of the United States, Donald J. Trump, and President Xi Jinping of China, have just concluded what both have said was a ‘highly successful meeting’ between themselves and their most senior representatives in Buenos Aires, Argentina,” the White House said in a statement. “Very importantly, President Xi, in a wonderful humanitarian gesture, has agreed to designate Fentanyl as a Controlled Substance, meaning that people selling Fentanyl to the United States will be subject to China’s maximum penalty under the law.”
“On Trade, President Trump has agreed that on January 1, 2019, he will leave the tariffs on $200 billion worth of product at the 10% rate, and not raise it to 25% at this time. China will agree to purchase a not yet agreed upon, but very substantial, amount of agricultural, energy, industrial, and other product from the United States to reduce the trade imbalance between our two countries. China has agreed to start purchasing agricultural product from our farmers immediately,” added the White House.
“President Trump and President Xi have agreed to immediately begin negotiations on structural changes with respect to forced technology transfer, intellectual property protection, non-tariff barriers, cyber intrusions and cyber theft, services and agriculture,” the statement furthered. “Both parties agree that they will endeavor to have this transaction completed within the next 90 days. If at the end of this period of time, the parties are unable to reach an agreement, the 10% tariffs will be raised to 25%.”
President Trump’s success at the G-20 Summit this weekend is yet another shining example of the reason why millions of Americans flocked to the polls to elect a businessman instead of a politician in 2016. Rather than simply partake in the usual pandering and political posturing, Trump actually gets things done. He went to Buenos Aires with a mission to best President Xi in trade negotiations, and he pulled through. That, my friends, is called the art of the deal.
