In the latest episode of “Talking Trade,” Rachel Ziemba of Ziemba Insights says a recent state meeting between President Donald Trump and China’s President Xi Jinping “may not give as much certainty to business” as the leaders may hope.
Ziemba is an adjunct fellow at the Center for a New American Security in D.C. and a senior advisor at New York-based Horizon Engage.
She explains the diplomatic visit by the Chinese leader was meant to mirror “the pomp and circumstance and ceremony” that greeted Trump during his earlier visit to China. While the gathering and state dinner involved both diplomats and U.S. business leaders, Ziemba says “it’s not clear that there was a lot of new substance” to any discussions taking place during the meeting.
“This is sort of, if anything, showing a level of respect … the fact that the two leaders are comfortable with each other, but at the end of the day we’re sort of operating on almost a month-to-month kind of extension of the trade rules,” she said.
While the talks involve trade and purchases between two countries, Taiwan, the conflict in the Middle East and de-escalating tensions there to enable more oil flowing out of the region, the Russia-Ukraine war and more, Ziemba said many details of the discussions are not yet clear.
“The devil really is in those details, because that’s what really drives the friction, the compliance that all businesses are having to grapple with right now as the U.S. and China both engage in more export controls and import bans and a whole alphabet soup of new restrictions,” Ziemba said.
Meanwhile, the conversation explores potential avenues for the future U.S.-China trade relationship, including tariff exemptions on various products.
Ziemba also weighs in on shifting trade deficits, rising employment costs in China and the role of U.S. tariffs, emerging trade relationships with other nations and the rise of AI.
Talking Trade is hosted by E.M Wasylik Associates Managing Director Ken Wasylik and M.E. Dey & Co. CEO Sandi Siegel and sponsored by the Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin, Carroll University and Michael Best Strategies.
