A fresh round of trade negotiations between the US and China is schedule to take place in London on Monday, as both nations aim to resolve their ongoing trade dispute.
US President Donald Trump announced on Friday that a senior American delegation will meet with Chinese officials. Over the weekend, China confirmed that Vice Premier He Lifeng will be attending the talks.
These announcements follow a recent phone call between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, which Trump described as “a very good talk.”
Last month, the two economic superpowers reached a temporary truce to reduce tariffs on traded goods. However, tensions have since escalated, with both sides accusing each other of violating the terms of the agreement.
Trump revealed on his Truth Social platform that US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer would lead the US delegation in London.
China’s foreign ministry stated that Vice Premier He will be in the UK from June 8 to 13, during which the “China-US economic and trade mechanism” meeting will take place.
Trump said his recent call with Xi primarily focused on trade and ended positively for both nations. Meanwhile, China’s state-run Xinhua agency reported that Xi urged the US to “withdraw the negative measures it has taken against China.”
This call marked the first direct communication between the two leaders since the trade war began in February. Earlier this year, Trump imposed sweeping tariffs on imports, with China being the most heavily affected. In response, Beijing raised its own tariffs, sparking a tit-for-tat escalation that peaked at 145%.
In May, talks held in Switzerland resulted in a temporary truce. The agreement reduced US tariffs on Chinese goods to 30%, while China lowered its levies on US imports to 10% and pledged to remove barriers on critical mineral exports. A 90-day deadline was set to finalize a comprehensive trade agreement.
However, recent trade data from Beijing indicated weaker-than-expected export performance in May. Exports rose 4.8% year-on-year, while imports dropped by 3.4%, a sharper decline than the anticipated 0.9% fall.
Since the truce, relations have once again deteriorated. Trump recently accused China of “totally violating its agreement with us,” while China countered by claiming the US had “severely violated” the deal. The US specifically pointed to China’s failure to resume shipments of critical minerals and rare earth magnets essential for industries such as automotive and electronics.
On Saturday, China’s Ministry of Commerce announced it had approved some applications for rare earth export licenses, though no specific destinations were disclose. This followed Trump’s statement that Xi had agreed to resume trade in rare earth materials.
However, White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett told CBS News on Sunday that although exports of critical minerals have risen, they remain below the levels both sides had agreed to during the Geneva negotiations.
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