Trump-Xi Truce Appears Elusive

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President Donald Trump has floated talks with his Chinese counterpart more than half a dozen times since the trade war started. But prospects look remote, even as their tariff fight appears to have peaked.

Inflicting trade pain is unlikely to bring President Xi Jinping to the negotiating table. Instead, Chinese authorities seem intent on proving that they can withstand more economic and political suffering than their archrival.

On Friday, Beijing hiked tariffs on all US goods to 125%, mirroring a move by the White House that pushed duties on Chinese imports to the same level, on top of an existing 20% tax. China said it won’t match any further hikes, calling the repeated use of steep tariffs economically meaningless, but reiterated its vow to “fight to the end” with other, unspecified countermeasures.

“The fact that the Chinese authorities have once again matched US tariff hikes suggests that they are in no rush to negotiate with the Trump administration,” said Julian Evans-Pritchard, head of China economics at Capital Economics.

Bloomberg Washington Correspondents Joe Mathieu and Kailey Leinz deliver insight and analysis on the latest headlines from the White House and Capitol Hill, including conversations with influential lawmakers and key figures in politics and policy. On this edition, Bloomberg's David Gura is in for Joe. Kailey and David speak with:

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• Chief Economist for SMBC Nikko Securities America Joe Lavorgna.
• Nonresident Senior Fellow with the Atlantic Council Global Energy Center Ellen Wald.

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