As Chinese President Xi Jinping arrives in the United States for a high-stakes meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, American business leaders and agricultural producers are voicing hopes that the talks will ease tariffs and trade barriers.
Xi is on a three-day state visit to the United States at the invitation of Trump. The trip follows Trump's state visit to China in May, the first by a U.S. president in nearly nine years.
Josiah Henson is a senior partner at law firm IPO Pang Shenjun, which specializes in cross-border U.S.-China corporate strategy. He believes economic cooperation between the two nations could lay the groundwork for a broader long-term framework.
"In terms of joining our economies together to work for the benefit of all mankind, that's the kind of a goal I think appeals to both of these men. So this could be the first step in building the future legacy," said Henson.
Roberta Lipson is Vice Chair of New Frontier Health, an international healthcare company based in China. Earlier this month she was part of a delegation that met with Premier Li Qiang ahead of President Xi's meeting with President Trump.
"I'd say generally very upbeat with the caveat that there was definitely recognition that there were some difficult issues to be worked out. But the level of welcome and acceptance and expectations looking toward the meeting, I think gave us a lot of encouragement," said Lipson.
Reducing tariffs and trade barriers constitutes the foremost priority for business leaders.
"I personally think that pharmaceuticals, there's no place for tariffs on pharmaceuticals. And so I'm hoping that that's something that can be discussed," said Lipson.
Most agree a major elimination of tariffs is not likely, but there are hopes for targeted reductions in certain sectors.
"We probably are not going to see the tariffs go away anytime soon or certainly not permanently," said Henson.
Ralph Winnie, director of the China Program at the Eurasia Center and a lawyer representing firms doing business in China, said he expects to see greater access to markets, more people-to-people exchanges and easier visa requirements.
"Creating the opportunities for business. You have to have the people sitting down face to face and start developing that personal relationship that will lead to a professional arrangement," Winnie said.
Mike McCranie, a soybean farmer in South Dakota, has relied on China as his primary export market for over three decades.
"I grew my acres as China grew their demand. So I'd say China and my farm grew together," McCranie said.
Chinese soybean purchases have ramped up ahead of the summit and progress in the agriculture sector may be a bright spot to emerge from the meetings.
"China has been purchasing soybeans for their upcoming marketing year. That would be my crop that I'm producing now. When you see that happening, it looks to me like that relationship is getting a lot better," McCranie said.
Business leaders are also looking for signs of cooperation on rare earth exports, AI, the tech sector including high end semiconductors and other trade issues.
"I have my fingers crossed and it would be so meaningful not only for me and my business, but for the whole world that it goes well," Lipson said.
U.S. business leaders hope Xi-Trump meeting can help ease trade tensions
