PARIS: Top US and Chinese economic officials launched a new round of talks in Paris on Sunday to iron out kinks in their trade truce and clear a smooth path for US President Donald Trump’s trip to Beijing to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the end of March.
The discussions, led by US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, are expected to focus on shifting US tariffs, the flow of Chinese-produced rare earth minerals and magnets to US buyers, American high-tech export controls and Chinese purchases of US agricultural products.
The two sides began talks on Sunday morning at the Paris headquarters of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and were expected to continue on Monday, a Treasury official said. China is not a member of the club of 38 mostly wealthy democracies and considers itself a developing country.
Before departing for Paris, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said that US officials want to ensure stability in the relationship. “We want to make sure that we continue to get the rare earths we need for our manufacturing base, that they keep buying the kinds of things they should be buying from us, and that the leaders have a chance to get together and make sure that the relationship is going the way we want it to go,” Greer told CNBC.
Analysts see limited prospects for a major trade breakthrough
The talks between Bessent, He, Greer and China trade negotiator Li Chenggang follow a string of their meetings in Europe last year to ease trade tensions.
US-China trade analysts said that with little time to prepare and Washington’s attention focused on the war on Iran, prospects for a major trade breakthrough are limited, in Paris or at the Beijing summit. However, the Iran war is expected to come up at the Paris talks, especially in reference to the spike in oil prices and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
“Both sides, I think have a minimum goal of having a meeting, which sort of keeps things together and avoids a rupture and re-escalation of tensions,” said Scott Kennedy, a China economics expert at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
However, Greer and Bessent bring a new irritant to the Paris talks, a “Section 301” investigation into unfair trade practices targeting China and 15 other trading partners over alleged excess industrial capacity that could lead to a new round of tariffs within months.
China had already denounced such probes and said it reserved the right to take countermeasures.
“The new round of talks is both an opportunity and a test,” China’s state-run Xinhua news agency said.
