- read to understand why after weeks of tough rhetoric Beijing decided to sit down at the table with Trump's team to talk tariffs.reuters.com/world/inside-c…
Among the factors driving the decision: growing worries over the fate of Chinese companies unable to replace the U.S. market;
fear of being left out as China's trading partners press ahead with trade talks with the U.S.; and persistent outreach by the U.S. and cooling of the rhetoric on Trump's part.
That said, nobody is expecting a major breakthrough overnight. Internally, the Chinese have downgraded the talks to a "meeting", meaning they don't think major decisions are imminent: they're focused on figuring out what the Americans actually want first.
It's not been easy for Beijing to figure out, partly because experienced embassy officials here have been mostly frozen out of the talks - and the seasoned deputy chief of mission has been shown the door this week.
The fentanyl issue will also be mixed into the talks - a letter that Trump's team sent to China with four asks on fentanyl in late April didn't go down well in Beijing - so let's see how that conversation evolves in Geneva and beyond.
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