Trump, Xi set for high-stakes trade war talks in Japan

US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are set for a high-stakes meeting in Japan on Saturday that could salvage trade talks or plunge the world’s two largest economies into a deeper trade war.

The dispute has already cost companies in both countries billions of dollars, disrupted global manufacturing and supply lines, and roiled global markets.

Trump said he would be sitting down with Xi, the first meeting between the two leaders in seven months, around noon on Saturday (0300 GMT) in Osaka, where they would discuss a dispute over Huawei Technologies Co and trade, among other topics.

US delegation from Trump-Xi bilat: Pompeo, Bolton, Mulvaney, Mnuchin, Navarro, Ivanka. Others I can't see in TV live feed.

— David Nakamura (@DavidNakamura) June 29, 2019

Trump said the two had seen each other on Friday evening at a dinner of Group of 20 leaders. “A lot was accomplished actually last night,” he said.

“The relationship is very good with China. As to whether or not we can make a deal, time will tell. But the relationship itself is really great.”

The US president, however, has said he would extend tariffs to cover almost all imports from China into the United States if there was no progress from the meeting on wide-ranging US demands for economic reforms.