Delegations from both countries will meet from October 24 to 27 in Kuala Lumpur to try to stop the tariff escalation.
Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng will lead the delegation to meet US officials in Kuala Lumpur.
Reuters
China confirmed that the deputy prime minister He Lifeng will lead a delegation for meet with US officials in Malaysia between the October 24 and 27in a new round of trade talks aimed at deactivate the confrontation between the two largest economies in the world.
The Chinese Ministry of Commerce reported this Thursday that the meeting will take place in the Malaysian capital to “discuss important matters” in bilateral trade ties. The meeting comes after a series of crossed tariff measures that significantly raised tension between Washington and Beijing.
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He, China’s chief trade negotiator and close collaborator of President Xi Jinping, had a telephone conversation last week with the US Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, in the run-up to this in-person meeting. Both officials will seek to reduce the impact of the recent escalation measures imposed by their respective governmentsin addition to preparing the ground for the planned meeting between Xi and Donald Trump on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in South Korea.
A truce at risk
The climate between the two powers deteriorated again in recent weeks. The United States expanded technological restrictions and proposed new levies on Chinese ships entering its ports, while Beijing responded with stricter controls on the export of rare earths and other critical materials.
The Chinese Ministry of Commerce even convened an unusually large meeting with foreign companies in Beijing on Monday, trying to convey that recent measures “they do not seek to restrict normal trade.”
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In early October, Trump criticized Beijing’s promise to exercise controls on rare earths and proposed imposing higher tariffs on Chinese goods, threatening to cancel his first in-person meeting with Xi since his return to the White House.
A tight schedule
At stake is a trade truce that will expire on November 10unless both parties agree to extend it. Trump is expected to visit Malaysia during his Asian tour, which will also include stops in Japan and South Korea. His itinerary could coincide with that of Chinese Premier Li Qiang, although at the moment there are no public plans for a meeting between the two.
Source: Ambito
