KUALA LUMPUR – The United States and China began two days of high-level trade talks in Malaysia on Saturday, the Chinese state-run Xinhua News Agency said, aiming to pave the way for a summit meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping next week in South Korea.
The fifth round of negotiations between top trade officials including U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng comes amid renewed tensions between the world’s two largest economies.
China announced new export controls on rare earth elements essential for high-tech manufacturing earlier this month and Trump threatened to impose an additional 100 percent tariff on Chinese goods in retaliation.
Before the talks in Kuala Lumpur, Bessent said his team is hoping to iron out some differences with Chinese officials so Trump and Xi “can enter their talks on a more positive note.”
Washington has also been frustrated with China’s suspension of soybean imports from the United States and criticized its continued purchases of Russian oil, saying those proceeds help support Moscow’s war effort against Ukraine.
The United States and China paused their tit-for-tat trade war in May, temporarily dropping the triple-digit tariff rates on each other’s goods. They later extended a tariff truce until Nov. 10.
