G20: Crunch time at G20 as US-China trade showdown looms

After a first day dominated by public shows of bonhomie, all eyes at the G20 Saturday turn to a pivotal trade showdown between economic rivals China and the United States
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US President Donald Trump and China's Xi Jinping meet at around 11:30 am (0230 GMT) in a bid to thrash out a truce in a long-running trade war that has seen hundreds of billions of dollars in tit-for-tat tariffs.

Read more at: Crunch time at G20 as US-China trade showdown looms | AFP.com

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China-US relations: Escalating U.S.-China trade spat comes at a bad time for global growth, economist says - by William Watts

The escalating trade spat between the U.S. and China comes at an inconvenient time for the global economy.

The resilience of China’s economy in early 2018 has been an important buffer for global growth in the face of mounting headwinds, noted Louis Kujis, head of Asia economics for Oxford Economics, in a Friday note.

But the economy is showing signs of a broad slowdown after downbeat May economic data, which Kujis expects to continue, braking growth from a pace of 6.8% year-over-year in the first quarter to 6.2% by the fourth quarter.

China’s economy was set to slow without the trade dispute and policy makers were already less likely to respond with the type of stimulus they have implemented in the past to the benefit of the domestic and global economy. The rising trade tensions only amplify the prospects of a slowdown, albeit at the margins.

“While the economic impact of the U.S. tariffs and ensuing retaliation by China will be modest, it does matter,” Kujis wrote. Assuming broadly one-for-one retaliation, Oxford Economics’s economic model suggests the trade actions will shave 0.1 to 0.2 percentage point off growth in 2018 and 2019 for both countries, he said, noting that the impact has already been incorporated into the firm’s forecasts.

Read more: Escalating U.S.-China trade spat comes at a bad time for global growth, economist says - MarketWatch