From Mao and Nixon to Xi and Trump: A history of China-US trade

With Presidents Xi and Trump expected to meet in the United States this week, Will Bain looks back on the history of trade between the two great nations.

It's always been fraught with controversy but there's also been a need or desire to get along.

President Nixon was the first to visit China in 1972 and spoke with passion about the possibilities for the future between them.

Trade then grew quickly but it became very one sided as China developed as an industrial nation.

There have been several attempts to curb its dominance but cheaper production also meant cheaper goods for consumers.

Chad Bown, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute joins Will to assess how they have attempted to strike the right balance

Thanks to the Presidential Libraries of President Nixon and President Reagan for archive material.

(Photo: A staff member wearing a face mask walks past US and Chinese flags set up before a meeting between US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, China, 08 July 2023. Credit: Mark Schiefelbein/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)

Presenter: Will Bain Producer: Justin Bones