Welcome to the 263rd edition of Trade War.
Trump and Xi get on phone and discuss rare earths, Taiwan, and Chinese students in the US, and agree to resume tariff negotiations. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to join Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent for talks with Chinese counterparts in London. And Chinese trade guru He Lifeng proving a tough negotiator.
Rare earths permits issued to suppliers for three American auto companies as shortages start to hurt industry. And China announces further loosening of export controls, citing needs of the robotics and new energy vehicle industries.
OECD downgrades China’s GDP to 4.3% for next year. And JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon and Treasury’s Bessent have dueling takes on whether Beijing is getting nervous about its economy.
Notable/In depth ~
Leaked intelligence document shows Russia’s deep suspicion of China
With Radio Free Asia shuttered, Beijing is expanding its Tibetan and Uyghur language propaganda channels
Trump is no China hawk; instead he is intent on getting a US-China deal
Trade tension cooling off?
“[After the Trump-Xi call] I think we are already seeing a cooling off of the trade war. But the question is whether it has legs or not and whether it will last much beyond the coming weeks. On that I’m actually quite skeptical,” I say to UK’s LBC News Radio.
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