00:00You know, it seems like it was plenty of pageantry, maybe, you know, low in deliverables, which was sort of
00:06expected, kind of even leading into this summit.
00:08But what do you think, you know, would you call this summit a success?
00:13I think it's the most important thing is the is that the two business leaders got together and had a
00:20dialogue and they spoke.
00:22The deliverables are something I think that you're going to be seeing over the next few weeks or so.
00:28And we can't expect that there would be any kind of a grand bargain or any breakthroughs.
00:34But the fact that both sides are committed to stabilizing the relationship sends a very strong message, a signal to
00:43the business community.
00:44And that gives us a sense of optimism. And that's important.
00:48So hopefully over the course of the year, through meetings at APEC and G20 and the state visit later this
00:56year, the two leaders can continue to meet and work through a number of the complexities in the relationship, which
01:04is something that's important for business.
01:06It brings a level of predictability, clarity in the relationship, as well as puts in the guardrails we need to
01:13make sure we don't go back to a situation where there's trade wars and tensions and other escalations.
01:20Right. Hey, James, Steve here. Let me jump in and ask you, because I think one of the more important
01:24aspects of this detente, if you will, is this suggestion of a board of trade and a board of investment.
01:31Because, again, the tariff barrage last year sort of put blanket tariffs across many different products.
01:38In fact, all products that were going to be sent from China to the United States.
01:42How important is it to get the negotiations going to find the areas and the thresholds and the sectors that
01:50are not going to be tariffed at, say, for example, areas that have more national security concern?
01:57I think with the board of trade, the most important thing is that it's a platform.
02:02It's a platform for the two sides to talk.
02:05It's not at the level of, say, the Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade from years ago, but it's an
02:11opportunity for both sides to talk through some of the issues.
02:15I think one of the challenging things is where and where we are actually waiting for more details and clarity
02:22on the on the the processes and how this will all work.
02:26But I think some of the challenges of the board of trade is, is that there's going to be decisions,
02:31you know, and those decisions may be challenged on who gets to trade and who does not.
02:37You know, so it does create a little bit of uncertainty for the business community.
02:41But overall, we're very much optimistic that the two sides are indeed talking, you know, and with the with on
02:49the trade side.
02:50One of the issues we also see is also making sure that services are included.
02:55Trade and services are just as important as working through the issues on trade, you know, in goods with the
03:03board of investment.
03:04That's another area that we can be finding some common ground where we allow Chinese investment into the U.S.
03:12and non-sensitive areas, you know, and also find ways that we can increase maybe market access for U.S.
03:19companies in China.
03:20So both of these boards, you know, are a step in the right direction to allow us to try to
03:28work through some of the issues and can build, you know, a solid trade relationship that will benefit both the
03:34first and second largest economies in the world, but also the global trade system as well.
03:41And James, it's interesting. I think she also told a lot of these American CEOs that were traveling with the
03:46president about, you know, China's door to the outside world will only open wider without offering too many specifics.
03:53Do you think this this board of trade and board of investment just institutionalizing how this could actually lead to
04:00more maybe two way trade?
04:03I mean, do you think that alleviates a lot of the concerns that a lot of maybe businesses and your
04:07members have talked about the regulatory concerns, supply chain, export risks and the like?
04:14Yes, absolutely. I mean, you used the right word institutionalizing this creates a platform, you know, a forum for the
04:22two sides to talk, you know, and dialogue matters, you know, diplomacy matters.
04:27And it's very, very important that we do have these platforms that we do institutionalize these conversations.
04:33And that's what business needs. That's what business wants. And again, we want clarity, predictability and the guardrails in place.
04:41So these both of these boards are indeed a step in the right direction.
04:48Hey, James, there's always the risk that things can kind of go pear shaped in this relationship.
04:52We're coming up to midterm elections. There might be some more China anti-China rhetoric in the United States.
04:58Obviously, China in the past, because of conditions or situations outside their control, whether it was covid or the tariff
05:05barrage, they did not fulfill necessarily their commitments on soybeans.
05:09It's one thing to pledge. It's another thing to fulfill that, you know, agreement.
05:14So are you still sort of, you know, tentatively optimistic or is there a hint of caution there for you?
05:24I'm more cautiously optimistic in the sense that, you know, the midterm elections we do not believe will be about
05:31China.
05:32They're going to be about a lot of other issues. There'll be issues such as the U.S. economy, gas
05:39prices, affordability, health care.
05:42There's going to be a lot of other issues besides China on the agenda for the midterms.
05:47You know, but the business community is prepared for, you know, a sense of, you know, some China bashing that
05:54may may take place.
05:55But the business community also needs to be prepared to get the word out, you know, on the ground of
06:02the U.S.
06:03and in the context of the conversation of the midterms or the 2028 election and that the relationship between the
06:11U.S.
06:11and China is very, very important for the economy, not just the, you know, the U.S.
06:16and Chinese economy, but also the world economy.
06:19You know, so there are indeed going to be political issues coming up with the election.
06:24We are hopeful that China is not going to be the focus of attention.
06:29But, you know, those are things that the business community is prepared to, you know, advocate on to ensure that
06:35we go in the right direction.
06:38Hey, James, were you disappointed at all that the large contingent of top, top U.S.
06:46executives that came, whether it was Jensen Huang, Elon Musk and the others, Tim Cook,
06:51they did not necessarily, at least in the immediate aftermath, announce big deals for the H200 AI accelerator
06:59or any kind of movement on, you know, self, you know, robo taxis for Tesla.
07:06We did get sort of a watered down order for Boeing jets.
07:11Beef is going to be back on the table of Chinese households, potentially.
07:16Was it kind of underwhelming to you as far as the deal flow?
07:21No, not necessarily, because this is an initial step.
07:25I think all of the businesses represented in that delegation, you know, have much to offer to China.
07:32And they, you know, represent the best of America.
07:36And many of those companies are actually very much engaged with the American Chamber of Commerce in China,
07:43as well as actually on having some of our companies that are on our board of governors.
07:49But, I mean, they're not disappointed.
07:51They feel that this is just a long-term process, you know, that, you know,
07:56if there's issues that they need to work with the Chinese,
07:59I think the messaging, you know, coming from both of our leaders is that this relationship
08:05and the relationship between our companies and China is critically important.
08:09We have a lot to offer, and it's a process of moving forward with the dialogue.
08:16And that may take, that's, a lot of this is going to be taking place after the summit.
08:21So, in between now and the next touchpoint between the two leaders,
08:26we'll see what kind of progress that we're making.
08:29And hopefully we'll have, it'll be, it won't be underwhelming, it will be overwhelming.
08:34So, we'll see what happens as we proceed through the year.
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