U.S. and China Signal Trade Progress Ahead of Trump-Xi Meeting

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Caitlin McCabe (0:34)

President Trump's tour through Asia continues after reaching trade pacts with several nations. Plus, the US gender pay gap hits its widest level since 2016

Harriet Torry (0:45)

The gender pay gap has been widening for two years in a row. That hasn't happened in a very long time.

Caitlin McCabe (0:51)

And Javier Milei scores a decisive victory in Argentina, shoring up his standing with Washington. It's Monday, October 27th. I'm Caitlin McCabe for The Wall Street Journal. And here is the AM Edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories moving your world today.

President Trump touched down in Asia Saturday for the start of his weeklong swing across the continent. His first stop, Malaysia, where Trump was greeted with a great deal of pomp and circumstance. Touching down in Kuala Lumpur, Trump arrived to a tarmac filled with troops, dancers, music and the country's prime minister, who joined Trump in his limo known as The Beast as they sped off to a summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. In the days since, the administration said it reached trade agreements with Malaysia and Cambodia and frameworks for deals with Thailand and Vietnam. Trump also presided over the signing of a peace deal between Cambodia and Thailand, which clashed in July over a long running border dispute. The Journal's Meredith McGraw is traveling with the president on this visit and joins me now. Meredith, seems like it's been a busy couple of days in Asia. Can we back up for a second? What is the purpose of this trip?

Meredith McGraw (2:13)

Well, there are a few different things going on with this trip. The president kicked it off with the visit to ASEAN and Malaysia, where he wanted to show off that he's a peacemaker and a dealmaker. And now as he moves on to Tokyo and then to Korea, trade really continues to be top of mind for these countries. And then of course, all eyes are going to be on this high stakes meeting with Trump and Chinese president Xi Jinping later on this week.

Caitlin McCabe (2:46)

We talked earlier about the lavish ceremony that welcomed Trump as he touched down Saturday. What does this tell us about the tactics countries are using to sway the Trump administration?

Meredith McGraw (2:57)

Well, the president has always loved a good show. He loves the pomp and circumstance. He really enjoys the lavish arrival ceremonies. So what we've seen from a lot of these foreign leaders is that they really tried to curry favor with him by putting on a grand show and really trying to use flattery and these big lavish events to try to get some relief from him, whether it's tariffs or his demands for them to spend more on defense. The president's going to be having a bilateral meeting with the new prime minister of Japan. And she is viewed as a kind of protege to the late prime minister, Shinzo Abe, who we know President Trump was very close to. So this will be their first big meeting and the first test of that new relationship with her.

Caitlin McCabe (3:51)

Meredith, you mentioned he has a few more stops leading up to this pretty pivotal meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. What can we expect from this meeting later this week?

Meredith McGraw (4:02)

Well, the president has sounded quite optimistic. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was in Malaysia along with USTR rep James St. Greer, and they've really projected a lot of optimism and confidence, but there's still some other wild card issues that they need to figure out, but they're hoping to at least get some agreement on TikTok, on fentanyl, on agricultural imports, on soybean exports, and tariffs.

Caitlin McCabe (4:33)

That's The Journal's Meredith McGraw joining us from Tokyo. Meredith, thanks for being here.

Meredith McGraw (4:37)

Thanks for having me.

Caitlin McCabe (4:38)

Ahead of that meeting between Trump and Xi this week, top US and Chinese negotiators reported constructive trade talks over the weekend in Malaysia. President Trump sounded positive about the prospects of a deal as he spoke to reporters on Air Force One on his way to Malaysia.

Donald Trump (4:55)

We'll be talking about a lot of things.

Harriet Torry (4:57)

I think we have a really good chance of making a very comprehensive deal.