Danny and Derek welcome to the show Andy Liu, professor of history at Villanova, for a discussion on Trump, Xi, their respective histories, and the current trade situation between the US and China. They explore Trump’s relationship with Japan in the 80s and how that helped shape his idea of trade and tariffs, the US security apparatus emboldening Trump’s “dealmaking”, Xi’s own background as a “nepo baby” in the transformative era of Deng Xiaoping, he and the Chinese government’s effort to move China from exporting mostly cheap goods to higher-end products, the current Trump administration’s actions and (lack of) communication with Beijing, and more.

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Note: this episode was recorded in mid-March, i.e. before the latest round of tariffs.

Read Andy’s piece for n+1, “Back to the ‘80s?”.   

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