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Trade is front and center at the G-20 meeting

On the sidelines of the Group of 20 meeting in Buenos Aires that begins today — more on that below — President Trump will dine with President Xi Jinping of China tomorrow night. Forget small talk: The pair will focus on trade.

A deal may be in the works. The WSJ reports that the U.S. and China “are exploring a trade deal in which Washington would hold off on further tariffs through the spring in exchange for new talks looking at big changes in Chinese economic policy,” according to unidentified sources.

But Mr. Trump remains unpredictable. “I don’t know if we want to do it,” he told reporters yesterday. “I’m open to making a deal, but frankly, I like the deal we have now.” The president said this week that he would probably still increase tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods on Jan. 1.

And a long-term truce may be a pipe dream. “Any agreement in Argentina will be a tactical pause at best,” Ely Ratner argues in Foreign Affairs. “On most issues of consequence, there is simply no overlap between Xi’s vision for China’s rise and what the United States considers an acceptable future for Asia and the world beyond.”