(AFP) – Optimism grew Monday that Donald Trump and China’s Xi Jinping will end their bruising trade war during talks this week, as the US president touched down in Tokyo on the latest leg of an Asian tour. Trump said en route to close US ally Japan that he was hopeful of a deal when he sees Xi on Thursday, while also indicating he was willing to extend his trip in order to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
“I have a lot of respect for President Xi and we are going to I think… come away with a deal,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One, adding that he aimed to go to China “in the earlier part” of 2026. The optimism boosted stock markets, with Japan’s Nikkei surpassing 50,000 points for the first time. As dozens of people gathered at Haneda Airport to take photos, the presidential plane — also bearing Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent — landed at sunset. Sporting a golden tie, Trump boarded a helicopter to take him into the bright lights of the Japanese metropolis in time for an evening audience with the emperor. “A great man,” Trump said afterwards.
On Tuesday, Trump was expected to meet new conservative Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and make a speech on the USS George Washington aircraft carrier, docked at the US naval base Yokosuka. “I hear phenomenal things. (Takaichi) was a great ally and friend of Shinzo Abe, who was my friend,” Trump said, referring to the assassinated former premier.
– ‘Framework consensus’ –
Trump’s Asia trip, his first tour of the region since returning to office, kicked off in Malaysia on Sunday with a flurry of agreements on the sidelines of an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit. He also moved to mend fences with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, but not with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, ruling out a meeting any time soon. “Canada has been ripping us off for a long time and they’re not going to rip us off any more,” Trump said. The greatest prize for Trump — and for global markets — remains a China deal.
Trump is due to meet Xi on Thursday in South Korea for their first face-to-face talks since the 79-year-old Republican’s return to the White House. Before Trump’s arrival in Malaysia, Bessent and China’s Vice Premier He Lifeng held two days of trade talks, seeking an agreement to avoid additional 100 percent tariffs due to come into effect on November 1. Negotiators from Beijing and Washington have both confirmed a “framework” has been agreed. “The two sides… reached a framework consensus on reciprocal solutions to current pressing economic and trade issues,” China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi said, according to a state media readout of his Monday call with Rubio. Earlier on Air Force One, Bessent said they had “a framework for President Trump (and) President Xi to decide”.
– ‘Hot’ trucks –
On Friday, Takaichi announced in her first policy speech that Japan would be spending two percent of gross domestic product on defence this fiscal year. But Washington, which has around 60,000 military personnel in Japan, wants Tokyo to spend more, potentially matching the five percent of GDP pledged by NATO members in June. Most Japanese imports into the United States are subject to tariffs of 15 percent, less painful than the 25 percent first threatened. However, Trump also wants Japan to import more American products like rice, soybeans and cars, including “hot” Ford F-150 pickup trucks. Questions also surround Japan’s commitment to invest $550 billion in the United States, as specified in their July trade deal. “What I expect is that, since he (Trump) is someone who acts decisively, things might move in a positive direction for Japan,” said Tokyo resident Sayaka Kamimoto, 45.
– Kim meeting? –
Trump is due in South Korea on Wednesday for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, and will meet President Lee Jae Myung. Trump has also fuelled speculation that he could hold face-to-face talks with North Korea’s Kim while on the Korean peninsula. The two leaders last met in 2019 at the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ), the border area separating the two Koreas. “I would love to meet with him if he’d like to meet. I got along great with Kim Jong Un. I liked him. He liked me,” Trump said on Air Force One. Asked if he would extend his trip to enable a meeting, he said: “Well, I hadn’t thought of it, but I think the answer would be yeah, I would, I would do that, sure.”
– Aurelia End and Andrew Caballero-Reynolds
© 2024 AFP
