Bloomberg is reporting, citing people familiar with the matter. The report says that both sides are talking past each other and are struggling to find common ground on the best way to proceed forward. China is claiming that the US hasn’t provided any details on what they expect from Beijing on fentanyl in order to get the tariffs lifted.
As for the US side, they’re denying not providing clear demands on the fentanyl issue of course – pointing to their previous communique of calling on China to stop sending chemicals to produce the drug to Mexico.
Geez. Spoiler alert, it was never about fentanyl.
For now, this looks to be the status quo until something changes. I wouldn’t expect lower level delegations to make much headway until there is a clearer path on when Trump and Xi will be speaking. And that doesn’t look to be any time soon.
One of the sources in the report said that there is no planning at the moment for an in-person meeting between Trump and Xi.
However, the source says that in talks with China, the US will want to address a couple of key areas: fentanyl, the trade deal implementation under Trump’s first term, the importance of the dollar in global trade, and Xi’s support towards ending the war in Ukraine.
