United States, China set for trade talks in London on Monday
Washington: Three of US President Donald Trump’s top aides will meet with their Chinese counterparts in London on Monday for talks aimed at resolving a trade conflict between the world’s two largest economies that has kept global markets on edge. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer will represent the United States in the talks, Trump revealed in a post on his Reality Social platform without providing more details. China’s foreign ministry stated on Saturday that Vice Premier He Lifeng will be in the United Kingdom between June 8 and June 13, including that the first meeting of the China-US economic and trade consultation mechanism would be held during this visit. Trump spoke to Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday in an unusual leader-to-leader call amid weeks of brewing trade tensions and a disagreement over crucial minerals. Trump and Xi agreed to visit each other and asked their staffs to hold talks in the meantime. Both countries are under pressure to alleviate tension, with the global economy under pressure over Chinese control over rare earth mineral exports of which it is the dominant producer and investors more broadly nervous about Trump’s wider effort to impose tariffs on goods from most US trading partners. China, meanwhile, has seen its own supply of key US imports like chip-design software and nuclear plant parts curtailed. The countries struck a 90-day deal on May 12 in Geneva to roll back some of the triple-digit, tit-for-tat tariffs they had put on each other since Trump returned to the presidency in January. That initial deal sparked a global relief rally in stock markets, and US indexes that had been in or near bear market territory have recovered the majority of their losses. The S&P 500 stock index, which at its lowest point in early April was down nearly 18% after Trump announced his sweeping ‘Freedom Day’ tariffs on goods from around the world, is now just about 2% below its record high from mid-February.
