U.S. and Chinese trade negotiators are meeting in Beijing this week to begin high-stake talks to avert a bigger trade war before a March 2 deadline announced by President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping after a recent meeting in Argentina. The task of redefining the U.S.-China trade relationship in a way that benefits the U.S. rests largely with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, a longtime China hawk and Trump's chief U.S. trade negotiator.
Before he does that, "Lighthizer will need to keep a mercurial president from wavering in the face of queasy financial markets, which have suffered their steepest annual decline since 2008," The New York Times reports. "Trump is increasingly eager to reach a deal that will help calm the markets, which he views as a political electrocardiogram of his presidency." On Saturday, after speaking to Xi on the phone, Trump cheered investors by tweeting that the "deal is moving along very well."
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