Trade negotiations between the United States and China entered their second day on Sunday, with America’s chief trade official saying the discussions were setting the stage for a successful meeting between the two nations’ presidents.
Jamieson Greer, who represents the US on trade matters, told reporters in Kuala Lumpur that talks were moving in the right direction. “I think that we’re getting to a spot where the leaders will have a very productive meeting,” Greer said before leaving to join President Donald Trump.
Greer and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent sat down with He Lifeng, a senior Chinese official handling economic matters. The weekend meetings marked the fifth time the two sides have met face-to-face since May. As reported by Reuters, Li Chenggang, China’s lead trade negotiator was also taking part in the discussions.
Rare earth controls dominate discussion
The talks happened on the sidelines of a gathering of Southeast Asian nations. When a reporter asked if rare earths came up during the discussions that started Saturday, Greer confirmed the two countries covered many topics, including keeping their current pause on new trade actions in place.
Both nations want to stop their trade dispute from getting worse. Trump has warned he will put 100 percent tariffs on Chinese products and impose other restrictions starting November 1. This threat came after China greatly increased its limits on shipping rare earth magnets and minerals to other countries.
Trump flew into the Malaysian capital Sunday morning for the summit. The visit kicks off a five-day trip across Asia that will end with a meeting between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea.
If the Kuala Lumpur talks go well, it clears the path for the October 30 meeting between the two leaders. The White House has said the Trump-Xi meeting will happen, but Beijing has not yet confirmed it.
Trump plans to discuss several issues with Xi. These include Chinese purchases of American soybeans, worries about Taiwan, and the release of Jimmy Lai, a jailed Hong Kong media businessman. Lai started the now-closed Apple Daily newspaper, which supported democracy. His imprisonment has become the most well-known case of China limiting rights and freedoms in Hong Kong.
Trump also said he wants China’s help dealing with Russia as the war in Ukraine nears its fourth year.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio made clear Sunday that America will not abandon Taiwan in exchange for better trade terms with China.
Fragile trade agreement under strain
Relations between the world’s two biggest economies have become tense in recent weeks. A fragile agreement reached during their first round of talks in Geneva in May and extended in August has not stopped both sides from hitting each other with more penalties, export limits, and warnings of stronger payback.
The current round of talks will likely focus on China’s tighter controls on rare earth exports, which have led to worldwide shortages.
As reported by Cryptopolitan earlier, the Trump administration is thinking about stopping exports of “critical software” to China in response, which would affect items from laptops to jet engines.
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