Top economic officials from the United States and China are set to meet in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday in a bid to prevent their trade war from spiraling further and to secure a crucial meeting next week between President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping.
The talks, taking place on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit, come after Trump threatened to impose 100 percent tariffs on Chinese goods starting November 1. The move would be in retaliation for Beijing’s sweeping new export restrictions on rare earth magnets and minerals, a sector critical to global technology supply chains.
Tensions have already disrupted a fragile trade truce negotiated over four rounds of talks since May. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng will attempt to revive that agreement and prepare the ground for Trump and Xi to meet next Thursday at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in South Korea. That high-level encounter is expected to focus on tariffs, technology restrictions, and potential Chinese purchases of US soybeans.
Analysts say the immediate challenge lies in bridging differences over China’s rare earths controls and Washington’s expanded technology export curbs. “The meeting can’t happen without an agreement that they can return to this intermediate ceasefire that we’ve had over the summer,” said Josh Lipsky, an international economics expert. He added that the United States wants Beijing to roll back its rare earths restrictions, but questioned whether China would give up what he called its “primary leverage.”
Details of the Kuala Lumpur meeting remain scarce. Officials from both sides have avoided confirming the agenda or briefing plans, and the venue was only revealed when Chinese delegates arrived at the Merdeka 118 tower, the world’s second-tallest building.
President Trump is expected to arrive in the Malaysian capital on Sunday, where he may personally address the outcome of the talks.
SEO Tags: US China trade talks, Kuala Lumpur summit, Trump Xi meeting, rare earths dispute, APEC South Korea
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