Trump faces off with China, India over tariffs at this year's G20 Summit

President Donald Trump began this year's G20 Summit by demanding that India remove its tariffs. Meanwhile, China presented Trump with similar demands.

What's the background?

In March 2018, President Donald Trump announced that the U.S. would be implementing tariffs on all imports of steel and aluminum. This led to outcry and retaliatory tariffs from several foreign nations, including major trading partners like India and China.

What did China do?

Since the steel and aluminum tariffs were announced, China and the U.S. have been locked in a battle of escalating tariffs.

These tariffs have led to an increase in costs for certain products, including agricultural equipment. It has also decreased the cost of U.S. exports like soybeans and sorghum, as well as the amount of these products that China has been willing to purchase. The federal government has had to spend billions bailing out U.S. farmers to counteract the negative effects of the tariffs.

As the G20 summit begins, Chinese President Xi Jinping has prepared terms that the U.S. must meet before the trade standoff can end.

According to the Wall Street Journal, in addition to wanting U.S. tariffs lifted, Xi was also planning to ask Trump to stop banning the sale of products by the Chinese tech giant Huawei. The U.S. has accused Huawei of violating sanctions and illegally shipping U.S. goods to Iran and secretly operating in Syria.

Earlier in June, Trump told CNBC that he would be forced to increase tariffs if Xi failed to meet with him at the G20 Summit.

What did Trump say to India?

In a tweet late on Wednesday night before he arrived at the summit, Trump tweeted that he planned to meet with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi "about the fact that India, for years having put very high Tariffs against the United States." Trump mentioned a recent increase in these tariffs, which had been added in retaliation for new U.S. tariffs on India. He said that this was "unacceptable and the Tariffs must be withdrawn!"

What is the G20 Summit?

The G20 Summit will take place on June 28 and 29 in Osaka, Japan. Representatives of some of the world's strongest economies, including Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the European Union, will be present. Between them, these nations represent roughly 86 percent of the global economy.