Societe Generale Head Says US-China Row Likely To End By Spring For Trump's Election Bid

Societe Generale Head Says US-China Row Likely to End by Spring for Trump's Election Bid

Lorenzo Bini Smaghi, the chairman at Societe Generale, believes that the US-China trade war may finish by spring of next year, as US President Donald Trump will need an agreement with Beijing in the run-up to the next presidential election

BRUSSELS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 13th September, 2019) Lorenzo Bini Smaghi, the chairman at Societe Generale, believes that the US-China trade war may finish by spring of next year, as US President Donald Trump will need an agreement with Beijing in the run-up to the next presidential election.

"One year from now, we will have the election in the United States. At some point Trump has to close the deal. And hopefully it will be for his own success to show himself as the president that has achieved something for the election. I think that he will have at a certain point to stop the war and show some sign of the end of the war with some success. I think that at the latest towards the spring of the next year this has to come to an end," Bini Smaghi told Sputnik.

According to him, it is not in the interests of the incumbent president to participate in the election with tensions that have a negative impact on the economy.

Washington and Beijing have been engaged in a trade war since summer 2018, when the United States hiked duties on $50 billion worth of Chinese imports in a bid to balance the trade deficit. Since then, the two countries have exchanged several rounds of reciprocal tariffs.

In June, Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping met on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Osaka to discuss their trade discord and confirmed their readiness to reach a mutually acceptable agreement. On August 1, however, Trump announced the introduction of another 10 percent tariff on Chinese imports, blaming Beijing for not keeping its promise to buy more US agricultural products.

The two countries have agreed to hold a new round of trade negotiations in early October.