Sealing investment deal ‘within reach’ at Trump-Xi talks
Analysts say concluding discussions on such an accord would support US leader’s job promises

One accomplishment of a summit between US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping could be a road map for a bilateral investment treaty, business analysts in the United States say.
They believe there is a favourable environment for both sides to conclude the discussion on such a deal, which started nine years ago and entered substantial negotiations in 2013, because it would support one of the few Trump campaign pledges that has survived into his presidency – more American jobs.
“They both could agree over the next six to 12 months to produce an agreement that would increase American access to China and encourage Chinese investment in the US that would generate jobs,” said Dr David Lampton at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University in Washington.
Moreover, now that Trump has backed off pledges to brand China a currency manipulator, and with no recent reiteration of threats to erect a 20 per cent tariff wall, the path to a positive meeting of the two presidents is clearer.
Given that Trump had shown a preference for bilateral agreements over multilateral ones, “they could rekindle something like the bilateral investment treaty [initiated under the administration of former US president Barack Obama]”, Lampton said.