President Trump is set to land in Malaysia soon, where he will attend the 47th ASEAN Summit in Malaysia. Among his objectives is securing a trade deal with the People’s Republic of China (PRC) that will include concessions for raw earth minerals, recently restricted by the Chinese government.
Trump has always bragged about what a great relationship he has with Xi Jinping, leader of Communist China, whom he will meet on his on his multi-nation journey. Hwe has also waxed effusive about his relationship with Putin, however, and that didn’t get him very far in bringing about a Ukrainian peace deal.
Meanwhile, closer to home, Trump reacted to an ad blitz by Canada — purportedly showing Ronald Reagan nixing tariffs as a trade weapon — by calling off all trade talks and tacking on an additional 10 percent tariff on our northern neighbor.
My guess is that nothing concrete will emerge from the meeting with Xi, trade-wise, but Trump will label his talks as “very positive,” or words to that effect.
We’ll see soon enough.
