Earlier this week US Treasury issued another report on China, saying, in a nutshell:
- China has not fundamentally altered its unfair, unreasonable, and market-distorting practices
China has responded, the commerce ministry not backing down:
- The U.S side made new groundless accusations against the Chinese side, and China finds it totally unacceptable
- We hope the United States will drop the words and behaviors that damage bilateral economic and trade relations and adopt a constructive attitude
The G20 summit (for November 30 - December 1) is where and when US and China Presidents Trump and Xi will next meet. There are expectations that the two countries will try to smooth relations going into this, for example:
I suspect that if tensions calm a little they will nevertheless reignite once the meeting is concluded. The US treasury report and China's Commerce ministry response are what is really happening. I guess the timeline on relations and implications go something like this:
Now - December 1:
- Some easing in tension, a positive input for risk on this front (AUD a beneficiary for example ….. ps. don't go nuts hoovering all the offers, K? Plenty of other niggles on the horizon to be aware of)
December 1 onwards,
- back to normal, tensions to rise
