China signals willingness to ease trade tensions

Chinese President Xi Jinping waved a small white flag on Tuesday in the escalating trade war with the United States. During a speech at a business conference in Hainan province, Xi promised to cut auto tariffs and improve intellectual property protection, two hot-button issues for U.S. companies trying to do business in his country. Xi didn’t mention President Donald Trump or the recently imposed U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods, but analysts saw the speech as a veiled attempt to ratchet down the trade tension between the two countries. Markets surged after Xi’s comments, with the Dow rising 300 points in pre-market trading. Despite Xi’s overture, China also signaled its intention to fight U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs at the World Trade Organization, filing a formal complaint Tuesday and requesting 60 days to negotiate a solution. Most trade experts saw the proposed tariffs as a negotiating tool designed to persuade China to reconsider some of its unfair trade practices.