Trump meets Xi: what's at stake?
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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Kun toimistosi käyttöaste keikkuu, haluatko, että vuokranantajasi on epävarma vai varma? Vuokraat toimitilat varmalta. Toimitilat.varma.fi
Tänäänkin Suomessa on tuhansia rahoittamisen arvoisia yrityksiä. Nyt niillä on varaa kasvaa. Me OP-pohjalassa avasimme juuri satojen miljoonien kasvurahoituksen. Lue lisää O.fi kautta kasvurahoitus. Yrityslaina myöntää osuuspankki tai OP-yrityspankki Oj.
One of them thrives on unpredictability. The other is famous for revealing very little. This week, Donald Trump and Xi Jinping meet again. From tariffs to technology, we'll look at what's at stake when the world's two most powerful economic rivals sit down together.
That's on this episode of Business Daily. I'm Vishala Sri Pathma. Joining us is Samara Hossein, North America business correspondent in New York, and Laura Bicker, senior China correspondent, joining us from Beijing. Welcome to you both.
Hello.
Lovely to be here.
Lots to get into for this week's agenda, but before we get into that, let's take a quick trip back in time because the US and China they go way back. A sometimes rocky and sometimes lucrative relationship between the two countries has defined much the last couple of decades in terms of the global economy. On Monday's edition of Business Daily, Will Bain spoke to former State Department economist Chad Bowen about the historic relationship between Mao and Nixon. Well, we're going to fast forward a little bit to 2016 on this episode. Donald Trump wins the White House. Months later, he and Xi Jinping come face to face for the first time at Trump's Marilago Resort in Florida. Today, trade wars, tariffs, technology battles, and geopolitical rivalry have turned this relationship into one of the defining contests of our time.
And few moments captured that shift better than what Trump called Liberation Day back in April 2025.
China, 67%. That's tariffs charged to the USA, including currency.
China does not want a trade war, but we are not afraid of one. If the United States insists on waging a tariff war or trade war, China will fight to the end. Since then tariffs have gone up as high as a hundred and forty five percent and back down again, depending on which product and when. It's really difficult to keep up. But generally, how have relations been between the two countries? Well, Samara, we touched a bit about how President Trump might feel on a personal level. Do you think that's a big part of this relationship between the two economies? I think in general, when you're talking about two world leaders that are meeting, a lot of it has to do with personalities, right? You know, there are of course many instances throughout history where you can talk about presidents that didn't like each other.
So personalities make a big difference here. Remember that Donald Trump is very much someone who likes a strong leader, a strong man. So, in some ways, he's really, you know, almost envious of the kind of control that China has over its people. The United States, they're not coming in here with the strongest hand, especially when it comes to the war with. Iran, they're really going to be looking to China to try and mediate something there. Basically, the United States is coming in with more asks. And Laura, she is much less effusive publicly about Trump than Trump is about him. How does he actually view this relationship? Do we have much of an idea about that?
Honestly, when you look at President Xi sitting at any meeting, he'd make an excellent poker player because you never really get an idea of what he's thinking, if he actually is angry. You never really know. His his expression stays the same throughout. But when it comes to this moment, certainly President Xi will feel that he has proved that he can be a stable global power. in the time of an unpredictable US president. And that is why China feels that kind of balance of power is shifting. Now let's just start a wee bit about trade. You mentioned there about the tariffs.
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Chapters
4 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–6:11
2
What historical context shaped the Trump‑Xi relationship before this summit?
6:11–12:05
3
How have tariffs and trade wars between the US and China evolved in recent years?
12:05–16:56
4
Why do the personalities of Trump and Xi matter for the outcome of the talks?
16:56–19:15
Speakers
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