Top economic officials from the U. S. and China began talks in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday to prevent an escalation of their trade war and prepare for a meeting next week between U. S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping. This discussion at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit follows Trump’s threat of new 100% tariffs on Chinese goods due to China’s new export controls on rare earth magnets and minerals.
The U. S. expanded its export blacklist to include thousands more Chinese firms, which has disrupted a fragile trade truce established by U. S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, U. S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng over previous meetings since May. China’s chief trade negotiator, Li Chenggang, is also involved in the discussions. The Malaysian government and the U. S. and Chinese sides have released little information about the meeting or plans for media briefings.
The aim of the talks is to create a path for Trump and Xi to meet during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in South Korea next Thursday. They may discuss potential relief on tariffs, technology controls, and Chinese purchases of U. S. soybeans. Before the talks, Trump highlighted key topics, including the effect of a Chinese freeze on U. S. soybean purchases on American farmers and the situation in Taiwan, which China claims. He also mentioned the high-profile case of jailed Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai.
Trump’s trip to Asia marks his first and longest abroad since starting his presidency. He expressed a desire for China to assist the U. S. in relations with Russia. Experts believe that Bessent, Greer, and He need to find a way to address the U. S. technology export curbs and China’s rare earth controls, which Washington wants to change.
The success of the talks will determine whether the two countries can avoid an escalation in tariffs. The initial talks earlier in the year led to a 90-day truce, reducing tariffs but this fragile agreement weakened when the U. S. broadened its export blacklist in September to include many additional Chinese firms. In retaliation, China implemented new global controls on rare earth exports aimed at preventing their use in military applications. The U. S. condemned these actions and is considering further export restrictions, including on various technologies. Additionally, the U. S. announced a new tariff investigation into China’s compliance with the 2020 trade agreement that temporarily paused the trade war during Trump’s earlier presidency.
With information from Reuters