Trump's meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping will take place on the sidelines of the G-20 summit tomorrow and Trump is not the only one bringing a list of demands to the meeting.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Jinping is bringing his own list of demands for Trump and, if this report is accurate, the two sides may be even further apart than we realized.
Citing people familiar with the discussions, the Journal reported early Thursday that Beijing is set to insist that Washington lift all $250 billion in tariffs levied on Chinese goods and halt pressure to ramp up imports from the US.
Officials also want the US to reverse a ban on the sale of US technology to the Chinese telecommunications firm Huawei Technologies, which was announced last month in an executive order. The move added another layer of conflict to the yearlong trade war between the largest economies, drawing backlash from Beijing and US allies.
Since nearly the beginning of this year, Trump regime officials have insisted that the scrutiny of Huawei and the sanctions they've placed on the company are not related to Trump's trade war with China but, if this is among President Jinping's demands, it's about to become a part of the trade war.
There was a great deal of distance between Chinese and American officials even before this monkey in the wrench was introduced and if this report is accurate I believe we can presume that Trump's trade war will not end anytime soon.
The Trump regime's campaign against Huawei is touching every corner of the globe including our closest allies in Europe who Trump has threatened for considering the use of Huawei components in emerging 5G mobile networks.
If China now views this as more of a battle over sovereignty than economics, it's possible the dispute over Huawei could amount to a much bigger deal than any of the Trump regime's demands for regulatory reform in China. The campaign against Huawei is as much or more of a blow to China's right to exist in the world than Trump's tariffs are.
I don't know how Trump will react to Jinping making his own demands, but I can't imagine him taking it well.