Trump Tariffs ruin chances of meeting with Xi Jinping

WITH his storm of tariffs on Chinese goods, US President Donald Trump has torched ties with Beijing and likely wrecked any hope of meeting his counterpart Xi Jinping in the near term, analysts say.

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Since taking office in January, Trump’s maelstrom of import duties against friend and foe alike has rattled diplomats and pushed global markets to the brink of financial meltdown.

A screeching halt on further levies for most countries has calmed nerves - for now at least — but there has been no reprieve for China, accused by the US leader of trying to “screw” Washington.

Adding to the tensions, talks between the two superpowers on international issues like climate change and opioid addiction seem to have stalled.

“Under Trump, China-US ties have sunk to the worst state of affairs short of a fairly large armed conflict,” Shi Yinhong, director of the Centre for American Studies at Beijing’s Renmin University of China, said.

“Trump has unsheathed his dagger against China at a speed that exceeded many people's imaginations,” he said.

After a flurry of tit-for-tat hikes, the US now charges tariffs of 145% on many products imported from China, with cumulative duties on some goods reaching a staggering 245%.

A furious Beijing has set a retaliatory toll of 125% on goods entering from the US, and dismissed further rises as pointless.