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Trade war looms over G20 summit

July 2, 2019

Will new tariff threats from President Donald Trump overshadow his meeting with Chinese leaders at the G-20 summit this weekend?

A cloud of uncertainty loomed over the arrival of both President Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Osaka, Japan on Thursday.

An impending meeting of the minds to talk trade will happen between the two but it comes after new threats from Trump to levy hundreds of billions more in tariffs against Chinese imports.

"If the talks fail he has said we will go to Plan B which is another round of tariffs," said Larry Kudlow, U.S. Director of the National Economic Council. "If the talks do better than that then perhaps perhaps we might avoid that. But he's in a good place."

But farmers aren't in a good place according to Senator Tammy Baldwin, D-Wisconsin.

She explained there's a lot at stake if Trump goes with plan B.

"In particular, some of the retaliatory tariffs we've seen from China like on cheese when we're America's dairyland," said Sen. Baldwin. "I can tell you that we've seen 1500 dairy farms go out of business since Trump took office. So this is big stuff and if we can make progress in Japan next week, let's do it."

Republicans are optimistic that this weekend's talks could ease tensions.

Congressman Sean Duffy, R-Weston, who's pushing legislation to expand the president's tariff powers, said in a statement trade renegotiations with China are long overdo and he's glad the president "isn't afraid to stand up to our biggest trading partner and help level the playing field for American workers."

Congressman Bryan Steil, R-Janesville agrees, saying he's happy to see China back at the negotiating table.

"We brought the Chinese back to the table," he said. "This is one of those moments that we're going to have to watch how it plays out but I'm cautiously optimistic that we're going to have the ability to make some real progress ultimately to the benefit of American workers who then can take our products and ship them freely, fairly and reciprocally around the world.

Reportedly, Chinese President Xi is expected to give President Trump a set of terms that would end the trade war including a demand for the U.S. to remove all tariffs.