The US and China reached a preliminary agreement after two days of trade negotiations

In an appearance at the end of the talks, which took place at Merdeka Tower 188 in Kuala Lumpur, China’s International Trade Representative, Li Chenggang, stated that both sides reached a “preliminary agreement” and explored “appropriate proposals to address mutual concerns.”

“The next step will be for each party to comply with their respective internal approval procedures”Li stated, according to the transcript released by the official Xinhua agency.

The negotiations took place in parallel to the lTrump’s legacy to Kuala Lumpur, who today participated in a summit of leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), held in another part of the city, at the Convention Center of the Malaysian capital.

Although he did not offer specific details about this “preliminary agreement”, Li said that the dialogue with the US – the fifth round since April, with the last one in Madrid last month – covered “numerous topics”, including the con export controls, the possible extension of the reciprocal suspension of tariffs and levies related to fentanyl and anti-drug cooperation around that compound.

The United States and China also discussed the “further expansion” of bilateral trade, as well as US measures linked to port tariffs against Chinese ships, Li noted, acknowledging that the US maintained a “firm” stance during the negotiations, while Beijing “resolutely defended” its interests.

A “solid foundation” for the Trump-Xi summit

A few hours earlier, the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States, Scott Bessent, declared in that same skyscraper that Beijing and Washington have built “very solid foundations” to guarantee a “successful meeting” on October 30 in South Korea, between Xi and Trump, who started today what is the first Asian tour of his new mandate.

“We have very solid foundations for the leaders’ meeting on Thursday. “We talked about trade, rare earths, fentanyl, TikTok and the general relationship between both countries,” the US official said.

In addition, the trade representative of the North American country, Jamieson Greer, indicated that both delegations had worked on the “final details” of a possible agreement, which would have to obtain the approval of the leaders of both powers.

For now, Trump today showed his optimism: Just before this Sunday’s meeting with his Brazilian counterpart, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, within the framework of the ASEAN summit, in which both are participating, he expressed his confidence in reaching an agreement with Xi. “I think we are going to have a good agreement with China,” said the Republican, who also hinted at possible meetings with Xi in China and the United States after the meeting in South Korea.

A decisive meeting for the bilateral relationship

The trade negotiations in Kuala Lumpur were intended to pave the way for the meeting – not yet confirmed by Beijing – next Thursday in South Korea between Trump and Xi, in a context marked by a new escalation of tensions following recent Chinese restrictions on the export of rare earths, a key mineral whose production and export China almost monopolizes.

In response, the US president threatened to impose an additional 100% tax on Chinese products from November 1, which could increase effective rates to 157%.

In addition, reciprocal port taxes came into force in mid-October, and last Friday the Trump Government opened an investigation into the possible violation, by China, of the trade agreement reached between both powers in 2020, an agreement that Beijing claims to have complied with “scrupulously.”

After the talks in the Malaysian capital, Vice Prime Minister He Lifeng stressed that the “stable development” of Sino-US economic and trade relations “responds to the fundamental interests of both countries and their peoples,” and called to “jointly” preserve the achievements obtained in Kuala Lumpur.