Business & Economy

Business & Economy

The Big Story

Trump, China differ on progress of trade talks

China has left President Trump twisting in the wind on tariffs, declaring it is not engaged in any negotiation with the U.S. as the tariffs take a political and economic toll on Washington.

© Greg Nash

Trump and the White House insist the U.S. and China are making progress toward a deal, but Chinese officials have shot down those claims and chastised the Trump administration’s approach.

While markets were up on Thursday, the trade war has done economic damage to the U.S. and political damage to Trump.

Two other factors are Beijing’s relative readiness for this fight, and the fact that Washington and Trump are seen as the instigator of the trade war — a fact that could help China stand strong even if high tariffs in the U.S. do hit its economy.

Owen Tedford, senior research analyst at Beacon Policy Advisors, said this means Chinese President Xi Jinping “will also be hesitant to be seen as being pressured into a deal, potentially meaning that Beijing is willing to wait out the US or try to force Trump to act unilaterally.”

Trump insisted that his team is in talks with China after Chinese Commerce Ministry spokesperson He Yadong said any “claims about the progress of China-U.S. trade negotiations are groundless as trying to catch the wind and have no factual basis.”

The Hill's Alex Gangitano and Sylvan Lane have more here.

Welcome to The Hill’s Business & Economy newsletter, I'm Aris Folley — covering the intersection of Wall Street and Pennsylvania Avenue.

Did someone forward you this newsletter? Subscribe here.

Essential Reads

Key business and economic news with implications this week and beyond:

Laffer: Tariffs could wreak havoc on economy

Art Laffer, a noted conservative economist, said in a new interview that President Trump’s tariffs could cause a significant downturn in the economy.