In an effort to prevent another catastrophic tit-for-tat tariff war, the two largest economies in the world, China and the United States, agreed on Saturday to have another round of trade talks in the upcoming week.
In response to Beijing’s announcement last week of broad restrictions on the vital rare earths sector, US President Donald Trump threatened to impose 100% tariffs on Chinese imports.
On the fringes of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) conference, Trump had also threatened to call off his scheduled meeting with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in South Korea later this month.
In the latest indication of efforts to resolve their dispute, Chinese state media reported that Vice Premier He Lifeng and US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had “candid, in-depth and constructive exchanges” during a Saturday morning call, and that both sides agreed to hold a new round of trade talks “as soon as possible”.
Bessent stated they will meet “in-person next week to continue our discussions” and characterized the conversations as “frank and detailed” on social media.
In the past, Bessent had said that China was trying to hurt the rest of the world by imposing stricter regulations on rare earths, which are essential for everything from guided missiles to smartphones.
Chinese state news agency Xinhua reported that US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer also took part in the call.
Hours before the call, Fox News released excerpts of an interview with Trump in which he said that he would meet Xi at the APEC summit after all.
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