The View | US and China need to go beyond a trade deal to share the burden of reshaping a new world order
- A headline-grabbing deal at the G20 meeting between Trump and Xi is unlikely. China-US differences are systemic and structural, but with flexibility and compromise, the world’s two superpowers could work together to reshape the liberal international order
However, the trade dispute is not amenable to a quick or easy solution because the underlying issues are structural and systemic in nature. Even if a headline-grabbing agreement is reached, it is likely to be largely cosmetic and is unlikely to defuse ongoing tensions.
China now rivals the US in economic size: its share of global nominal gross domestic product was 16 per cent versus 24 per cent for the US last year, but, adjusted for the purchasing power of currencies, China is now the largest economy in the world at 19 per cent versus 15 per cent for the US.
Trump’s doctrine of “America first” and “Make America Great Again”, and his tough line on trade, reflect this changed reality: the US is no longer willing and able to play the role of a benign hegemon, underwriting the liberal international order and opening its market to other countries, without receiving reciprocal access in return.
