Trump's reconciliatory Tweet to China's Xi Jinping speech - Reuters

As Reuters pointed out, Trump's Tweeted response to Chinese President Xi Jinping's Boao Forum speech is a far cry off of actually negotiating a settlement for the very-real tariff threats still circling the two countries, and fails to recall China's pointed comments thrown at the US this week.

Key quotes (source: Reuters)

While much of his (Xi jinping's) pledges were reiterations of previously announced reforms that foreign businesses say are long overdue, Xi’s comments sent stock markets and the U.S. dollar higher on hopes of a compromise that could avert a trade war.

Xi said China will widen market access for foreign investors, addressing a chief complaint of its trading partners and a point of contention for U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration, which has threatened billions of dollars in tariffs on Chinese goods.

Trump struck a conciliatory tone in response to Xi’s speech, saying in a post on Twitter that he was “thankful” for the Chinese leader’s kind words on tariffs and access for U.S. automakers, as well as his “enlightenment” on the issue of intellectual property. “We will make great progress together!” Trump tweeted.

Washington charges that Chinese companies steal the trade secrets of American companies and force them into joint ventures to get hold of their technology, an issue that is at the center of Trump’s current tariff threats.

The latest comments from both leaders appear to reinforce a view that a full-scale trade war can be averted, although there have been no talks between the world’s two economic superpowers since the U.S. tariffs were announced.

“President Xi’s speech appears to have struck a relatively positive tone and opens the door to potential negotiations with the U.S. in our view. The focus now shifts to the possible U.S. response,” economists at Nomura said. “But of course actions speak louder than words. We will keep an eye on the progress of those opening-up measures.”

He said “Cold War mentality” and arrogance had become obsolete and would be repudiated. His speech did not specifically mention the United States or its trade policies, which have been assailed by Chinese state media in recent days.

Vice Premier Liu He had already vowed at the World Economic Forum in January that China would roll out fresh market-opening moves this year, and that it would lower auto import tariffs in an “orderly way”.

Chinese officials have promised since at least 2013 to ease restrictions on foreign joint ventures in the auto industry, which would allow foreign firms to take a majority stake. 

Analysts have cautioned that any Chinese concessions on autos, while welcome, would be a relatively easy win for China to offer the United States, as plans for opening that sector had been under way well before Trump took office.

But Vice Commerce Minister Qian Keming said at the forum on Tuesday that China’s economic reforms were driven by domestic factors and not due to external pressures.