US, China seek to repair damage from tariff war that sent trade into freefall

WASHINGTON — During a tumultuous 2025, the United States and China proved how much they could hurt each other in a trade war. Now Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping are meeting in Beijing to repair some of the damage. A decade of conflict between the world's two biggest economies has left U.S.-China trade greatly reduced from the boom times of the 2000s and 2010s, forcing companies to regroup. Many American firms have shifted production out of China to countries like Vietnam and India. And Chinese firms have scrambled to find new customers in Europe and Southeast Asia. But the two countries are finding that they still need each other. "The idea of somehow China being totally independent of us and us being totally independent of China, I think, is a fiction,'' said financier Wilbur Ross, who served as U.S. Commerce secretary in Trump's first term. This week's summit is primarily about keeping the economic relationship stable, with only modest policy announcements expected. A trade truce reached last October likely will be extended, while China may announce plans to buy American soyWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times