China and the United States will hold a new round of trade talks next week to avoid another tariff dispute between the world’s two largest economies, as President Donald Trump has described US tariffs on Chinese goods as unsustainable.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Besant said on Friday he looked forward to meeting Chinese Vice Prime Minister He Lifeng in Malaysia in the coming week.
What did Trump say?
On Friday, US broadcaster Fox Business aired excerpts from an interview with Trump in which the US leader said he would meet Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in South Korea in November.
Asked whether the 157% cumulative tariff rate on Chinese goods was sustainable, Trump defended his decision by acknowledging its potential impact on the US economy.
“It’s not sustainable, but that’s what the numbers are… They forced me to do it,” he said.
Last week, China expanded its export controls on the vital rare earth industry.
Beijing’s move prompted Trump to threaten 100 percent tariffs on imports from the Asian economic giant in retaliation.
Earlier in the week, Besant and Greer had criticized China’s sanctions and called the decision a threat to global supply chains.
China dominates rare-earth elements that are important for technological manufacturing.
Trump has also threatened to impose new US export controls that would stop the supply of “any and all critical software”.
Tariff talks between US, China in Malaysia
Chinese state media Xinhua reported that Besant and he had a “candid, in-depth and constructive conversation” in a video call on Saturday morning. The report said both sides agreed to hold a new round of trade talks “as soon as possible.”
Xinhua said the call also included US Trade Representative Jameson Greer.
Besant wrote on social media platform X that the call was “candid and detailed”, adding that the two senior officials would meet “in person next week” to “continue” their discussions.
Over the past six months, the two have met in four European cities to outline a tariff truce, reducing tariffs from the damaging three-digit mark for each country.
The agreement is set to expire on November 10.
Edited by: Sam Dusan Inayatullah