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FT News Briefing

The episode covers a series of significant geopolitical and economic developments, beginning with Xi Jinping's visit to Washington to discuss US-China trade relations.

Key takeaways

• Xi Jinping and Donald Trump extended their trade war truce until January during a White House visit.
• The EU has issued an ultimatum to the UK to match tariffs on Chinese cars to access 'Made in Europe' subsidies.

Main topics

• US-China Trade Relations
• UK-EU Trade Policy and Brexit

Notable quotes

China and the United States, as two major countries, stand to gain from cooperation and will both lose in confrontation.

Conclusion

The episode highlights a period of increasing economic friction and ge

Transcript preview

Speaker 5 (0:01) Good morning from the Financial Times. Today is Friday, September 25th, and this is your FT News Briefing. Donald Trump rolled out the red carpet for Xi Jinping, and the UK wants some of the business perks of being European. Plus, we look at what the bond market sell-off means for you. I'm Sonia Hudson, in for Mark Filippino, and here's the news you need to start your day. Speaker 5 (0:34) Chinese leader Xi Jinping began his first visit to Washington in more than a decade yesterday. U.S. President Donald Trump said the two made progress on issues including a, quote, more balanced trading relationship. The nations extended their trade war truce until January. Xi said that China and the U.S. must, quote, coexist in peace. Here he is speaking at the White House through an interpreter. Speaker 4 (1:01) China and the United States, as two major countries, stand to gain from cooperation Speaker 5 (1:07) and will both lose in confrontation. Speaker 1 (1:10) We Speaker 5 (1:11) do not need to avoid mentioning competition, but our competition should be a healthy one and should be kept within bounds. The visit also comes as the Chinese military continues its assertive activity in the South China Sea. The two leaders were expected to discuss U.S. and Chinese policy towards Taiwan. But there was a breakthrough in panda diplomacy. Xi announced that China would send two giant pandas to the Atlanta Zoo soon. Speaker 5 (1:46) The EU has laid down an ultimatum for the UK. If you want to be part of our Made in Europe subsidies program, you got to match our tariffs against China. That's according to people familiar with the discussions. But that move could be tricky for the UK. Peter Foster is the FT's World Trade Editor. He joins me now. Hi, Peter. Hi. OK, tell me more about this Made in Europe label that is at the center of the standoff. Speaker 2 (2:14) So the EU is trying to create a world where EU-based manufacturers in autos, in energy, in key supply chains, chemicals, get preferential access to EU subsidy schemes. Now, the UK, 50 % odd of its trade is done with the EU, is worried that if it's not treated as if it's European, then its automakers and chemical firms and nuclear energy providers are going to find themselves... shut out of those supply chains. And so the EU goes, well, OK, that's fine. But you remember you left the EU and you're outside the EU single market. You don't want to have free movement of people. So in that case, it's Speaker 5 (2:55) a Speaker 2 (2:55) bit difficult to make you part of the family if you're not going to follow the family rules. Speaker 5 (2:59) OK, so Brussels is basically saying if you want to join this made in Europe label, you have to match our tariffs. Why wouldn't the UK want to do that? Speaker 2 (3:09) Well, here's the rub. Since Brexit, one of the advantages of Brexit was the UK had its own trade policy. And so, for example, back in 2024, the EU put tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles of up to 45%, depending on where they came from. The UK didn't do that, which meant that Chinese EVs came into the UK cheaper and more easily. And