Chinese and US trade negotiators have lined up an array of agreements for Xi Jinping and Donald Trump to formally unveil this week, but none address the core issues of America’s economic conflict with China. While markets have rallied on news that the latest trade spat between the two nations is easing, analysts caution that the deals now set for them to sign in South Korea ignore foundational problems.

While little fish are being scooped up, some of the big fish are getting away, including national security and Trump’s desire to somehow rebuild America’s industrial base. The Republican president has envisioned a “rebalancing” between the two largest economies—a world in which the US revives its manufacturing sector and China stokes domestic consumption to engineer a dramatic reduction in both US trade deficits and Chinese surpluses.

In reality, President Xi may have other ideas. While US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent pushes China to light a fire under consumer spending and the White House touts Trump’s Asia trip as a ringing success, China’s latest five-year plan appears to show Trump’s rebalancing dream to be—as far as Beijing is concerned—a fantasy. —Natasha Solo-Lyons and David E. Rovella

What You Need to Know Today

Sergio Ermotti should have been on the home stretch. Having returned to take charge of UBS in 2023, the executive is steering his firm through one of the biggest bank integrations in recent history after its rescue of Credit Suisse. Yet victory is not quite in sight. The ultimate outcome of a standoff with the Swiss government over the enlarged bank’s capital requirements is years away. 

No matter how well its operations perform or how much it pays out in buybacks and dividends, UBS shares will struggle until this is fixed, Paul J. Davies writes in Bloomberg Opinion. Unless Switzerland can clean up the mess left by its solution to the Credit Suisse crisis—and compromise on its fear of ever allowing a repeat at UBS—the bank will face major changes in its profitability, he writes.

Huntington Bancshares agreed to buy Cadence Bank for $7.4 billion, the former’s second major acquisition this year to expand in southern and southeastern states, and the latest in a string of deals among US regional lenders. The acquisition will extend Huntington’s footprint to 21 states, stretching from the Midwest to the South to Texas. The bank will add more than 390 Cadence locations, ranking it fifth by deposit market share in the fast-growing metropolitan areas of Dallas and Houston.

Large regional banks have been snapping up smaller competitors in recent months as the Trump administration eases regulatory precautions that had been blocking consolidation. Earlier this month, Fifth Third Bancorp agreed to buy Comerica for $10.9 billion in the year’s largest US bank deal. In September, PNC Financial Services Group said it will acquire FirstBank Holding for $4.1 billion to expand in Colorado.

Hurricane Melissa plowed toward Jamaica as a catastrophic Category 5 storm, threatening to bring widespread destruction to the island. Melissa’s top winds reached 175 miles per hour, up from 165 mph earlier, as of 2 p.m. New York time. The storm’s winds have the potential to cause total devastation, especially on mountainsides and hills where speeds could register up to 30% stronger.

Global warming primarily caused by the burning of fossil fuels has accelerated and intensified superstorms like Melissa. But as Florida braces for a possible brush with the storm after it tears through the Caribbean, it bears noting that the Trump administration appears to be doing everything it can to make sure more oil, gas and coal gets burned.  

Hurricane Melissa in the Caribbean on Oct. 27. Source: NOAA

Amazon plans to fire 30,000 of its corporate employees, according to Reuters, in what would be the latest in a series of terminations over the past few years at the company built by Jeff Bezos. The cuts are expected to start tomorrow. Chief Executive Officer Andy Jassy has been actively looking to slash costs after expanding rapidly during the pandemic, but if you’re thinking artificial intelligence has anything to do with these latest dismissals, you might be right. Jassy in June signaled that more Amazon workers would likely lose their jobs as he increases the company’s reliance on AI for “efficiency gains.”

What You’ll Need to Know Tomorrow

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