China and the US agreed on Saturday to hold another round of trade negotiations in the coming week, after a tit-for-tat battle took a turn for the worse in the preceding days.
The Chinese state media reported that China’s Vice Premier, He Lifeng, and US Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, had “candid, in-depth and constructive exchanges” during a Saturday morning call, with both sides agreeing to hold a new round of trade talks “as soon as possible”.
Bessent later described the discussions on social media as “frank and detailed”, and said they would meet “in-person next week to continue our discussions”.
A Chinese state news agency also reported that US Trade Representative, Jamieson Greer had also participated in the call.
A US news network reported on Saturday that Trump had confirmed in an interview he would meet Xi at the APEC summit after all.
Also Read: US, China impose reciprocal port fees; trade tensions escalate
Last week, Beijing had announced greater restrictions on the export of rare earth materials, which it has in abundance, to countries including the US, citing security concerns. US President Donald Trump, in retaliation, had then threatened 100 per cent additional tariffs on Chinese goods from November, besides hiking port fees.
Trump had also warned he would cancel his upcoming meeting with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, which is slated to take place in South Korea later this month on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.
Bessent too had previously accused China of seeking to harm the rest of the world by tightening restrictions on rare earths exports, which are critical for use in everything, from smartphones to jet engines, semiconductors and electric vehicles.
Washington is rallying the G7 finance ministers to coordinate a short-term response to China’s control over rare earths.
EU’s economy commissioner, Valdis Dombrovskis, told reporters that they have also agreed to diversify suppliers, but that it could take years since a majority of rare earth supplies come from China.
“We agreed, both bilaterally with the US and at the G7 level, to coordinate our approach” he said on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank's fall meetings.
German Finance Minister, Lars Klingbeil, expressed hope that Trump and Xi's meeting can help resolve much of the US-China trade conflict.
"We have made it clear within the G7 that we do not agree with China's approach," he added, referring to the group of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States.
The IMF chief, Kristalina Georgieva, also expressed hope Friday for an agreement between the countries to cool tensions.
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