Ross Sees G-20 as Forum Where Trump, Xi Might Reset Trade Talks

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said the Group of 20 leaders summit in Japan later this month might be a forum where President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping are able to meet and restart trade talks.

“Probably, at the 40,000-foot level, the level of the two presidents, the most that’ll be done is they’ll decide it’s worth reopening,” Ross said in an interview Wednesday on Bloomberg Television. “I don’t think that a G-20 pull-aside is a very likely place for the details of a 2,500-page agreement to be worked out. That needs to be in a conference room with detailed, technical people.”

Ross said it’s too soon to speculate about the outcome of any meeting between the two leaders. The Chinese foreign ministry has declined this week to say whether such a bilateral discussion is scheduled at the June 28-29 summit.

“We shouldn’t try to pick out what’s going to happen from a meeting that, as I understand it, hasn’t even yet been scheduled,” Ross said. “So it’s a little hard to say what’s going to be the subject matter when we don’t know for certain whether or not they’ll even have a meeting.”

Talks between the Washington and Beijing broke down almost a month ago amid U.S. accusations that China backtracked on a tentative deal and Chinese finger-pointing at the Trump administration for changing its demands.

--With assistance from David Westin and Alix Steel.

To contact the reporter on this story: Brendan Murray in Washington at brmurray@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Brendan Murray at brmurray@bloomberg.net, Alister Bull

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