WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump is due to meet Friday afternoon with China's top trade negotiator, as talks continue to try to defuse the escalation of the tariff war between the world's economic superpowers. The White House said Trump would meet with China's Vice Premier Liu He, who is leading the delegation from Beijing. By themselves, Lagarde told the US radio broadcast Marketplace, the tariffs are having "minimal" effect on global trade but they are also damaging business confidence and weighing on stock markets. "So the combined three impacts -- trade, markets, confidence -- actually reduce global growth and certainly explain our downsided projection," Lagarde said, referring to the IMF's recent cuts to global growth forecasts. Global stock markets have been battered since last year through the ups and downs of the trade war but have tended to react positively to signs relations at least will not deteriorate further.

Source: Bangkok Post February 22, 2019 16:18 UTC