Washington (TDI): The US Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, and China’s Vice-Premier, He Lifeng, held a video call on Friday evening, agreeing on starting a fresh round of delegation-level trade talks.
A read-out from Beijing described the meeting as “candid, in-depth and constructive,” covering key issues in bilateral economic and trade relations.
According to the Chinese state broadcast, both sides “agreed to convene a new round of China-US economic and trade consultations at the earliest opportunity.” On his social media account, Bessent said “We will meet in person next week to continue our discussions.”
The talks are expected to take place in Malaysia, in the backdrop of both sides seeking to quell the risk of escalating tariffs and trade retaliation.
Beijing’s recent introduction of sweeping export controls on rare-earth materials provoked Washington, and President Trump warned of potential 100 percent tariffs on Chinese imports in response.
Read More: Trump Admits 100% China Tariff ‘Not Sustainable,’ Confirms Meeting with Xi
However, he downplayed his own threat in an interview with Fox news, aired also on Friday, acknowledging that his proposed 100% tariffs on Chinese imports would be unsustainable in the long term.
Trump also confirmed he would meet Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea in two weeks, expressing cautious optimism. “I think we’re going to be fine with China, but we have to have a fair deal. It’s got to be fair,” he said in another interview taped Thursday.
Analysts say the agreement to resume trade talks may signal a shift toward more cautious engagement after months of rising economic tension. But similar engagement in the past did not culminate into any substantive agreement over tariffs.
The rare-earths sanctions issue in particular has drawn the attention of the G7, whose finance ministers agreed to coordinate responses and seek to diversify away from Chinese supply dominance.
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