Trump set for showdown with Xi Jinping as pair go head to head in US-China trade WAR

Mr Trump said: “We will be meeting with President Xi tonight…and we’ll be talking about a thing called trade and probably other things but primarily trade. It’s a very important meeting.” Trump also said he would work to straighten out the trade imbalance in talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Speaking alongside Mr Trump at a joint news conference, Mrs Merkel said the two would address issues related to trade and the World Trade Organization, and discuss Ukraine, Syria, and the INF nuclear weapons pact with Russia. It comes after China condemned protectionism during the G20 summit along with several other developing global economies. 

Chinese President Xi Jinping and other leaders from the BRICS group of leading emerging economies, Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, all called for an opening of international trade and a strengthening of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

In a statement, they said: “The spirit and rules of the WTO run counter to unilateral and protectionist measures.

“We call on all members to oppose such WTO-inconsistent measures, stand by their commitments undertaken in the WTO.”