By Abigail Bender
The University of Maryland’s China and the United States Program hosted a panel Monday at the School of Public Policy, where panelists noted how the recent U.S.-China summit was more ceremonial than substantive.
President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping held a summit at the White House on Sept. 24 to discuss the countries’ bilateral relationship. While the summit was intended to focus on subjects such as a trade truce and advancing artificial intelligence, Margaret M. Pearson, a scholar and professor in the Department of Government and Politics, said the meeting lacked substantive results.
“The lack of outcome reflects primarily the weakness and mistrust in the relationship,” Pearson said.
Pearson said the meeting highlighted pageantry between Trump and Xi, but it hardly addressed major issues between the two countries.
“So this idea that we’re in a good place, obviously we know is not the case,” Pearson said. “But it also seems as though the relationship may be the one thing pulling us along.”
Robert Daly, the director of the China and the United States Program, followed Pearson by saying the expectations for the summit were low. Daly said that Trump and Xi only formally met for 30 minutes.
“So even in the schedule, there was never a serious look at problem-solving,” Daly said.
Daly noted some positives to come out of the summit, including that Trump has spoken highly of Xi, which strays from the rhetoric of previous administrations.
“I think that Donald Trump and his demeanor and the way that he talks about Xi and China matters because he is sending the message to the American people that we can live with China,” Daly said. “We can coexist.”
The U.S. and China agreed to extend their yearlong trade truce by two months, which Daly said was a positive note from the summit. The two countries also discussed reducing tariffs on $30 billion of non-sensitive goods.
“So they’re making an attempt, and this is, I think, a sensible thing to do, to find non-strategic goods, non-dual-use goods,” Daly said.
Still, Daly emphasized that the wording U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer used when discussing reducing tariffs on $30 billion worth of non-sensitive goods during the summit was highly specific. Daly said that the use of words such as “recommend” and “could in the future” created uncertainty.
“This is not an agreement at all,” Daly said. “In fact, it wouldn’t be a bad thing if it happened, but look at the way that it’s presented.”
Daly also criticized Xi for announcing that two pandas would be sent to the U.S. during the summit. He said this was not a major issue between the U.S. and China that was discussed.
“This is also one-sided,” he said. “They present these as gifts. They’re not gifts. We pay for them. We pay a million dollars per panda per year.”
Following the panel discussion, the audience was offered time to ask questions. When asked what the future of the U.S.-China relationship may look like with a potential new president, Scott Kastner, a professor in the Department of Government and Politics, said it’s difficult to predict the trajectory.
“I think Trump is an outlier, and so I think regardless of who the next U.S. president is, it’s hard to imagine kind of a similar obsession with kind of the optics of meeting with a leader like Trump,” Kastner said.
Featured Image: The University of Maryland’s China and the United States Program panelists Scott Kastner, left, Robert Daly, center, and Margaret M. Pearson discuss the U.S.-China summit on Monday at Thurgood Marshall Hall. Photo by Abigail Bender.