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In Trump-Xi Meeting, a 'Surprising Move' by Trump

President says trade talks are back on, appears to reverse ban on US companies selling to Huawei
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 29, 2019 7:00 AM CDT
Trump After Xi Meeting: Trade Talks Are Back On
President Trump poses for a photo with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Osaka, Japan, on Saturday.   (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

What had been dubbed a "most suspenseful meeting" between President Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20 summit is now over, and by Trump's account, the meeting went well. So well, in fact, that trade talks between the US and China are now "back on track," Trump said, per the New York Times. In a Saturday news conference in Osaka, Japan, the president noted that the implementation of new tariffs on China has been suspended, for now, as talks resume. He also said that China had given the nod that it will start scooping up US farm goods and other products. The Washington Post notes China hasn't yet confirmed that latter promise, and that Trump has made this assertion before, with farmers complaining that those purchases never come to pass.

Then, what the Times calls a "surprising move": Trump said American companies can once more engage in transactions with Chinese telecommunications company Huawei. "US companies can sell their equipment to Huawei," Trump said, effectively reversing the ban that had been put in place. Trump added that such sales would only be permitted where national security was determined not to be at risk, and that the ban reversal would be hashed out more fully in the US, CNBC reports. China's state-run Xinhua News Agency seems to agree the Trump-Xi meeting was a fruitful one, per CNN. "[Trump and Xi] agreed that China and the United States should resume economic and trade discussions on the basis of equality and mutual respect," a notice on the Xinhua site announced. (Trump also talked about Jimmy Carter, Joe Biden, and Kamala Harris at Saturday's presser.)

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