US And China Set To Meet For Trade Talks In London

A new round of talks aimed at resolving the trade war between the US and China is set take place in London on Monday.

A senior US delegation including Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick will meet with Chinese representatives such as Vice Premier He Lifeng to resolve tensions between the world’s two largest economies, which is threatening global growth.

Chinese exports of rare earths, which are crucial for modern technology, as well as Beijing’s access to US products, including computer chips, are expected to be high on the agenda.

Last month, Washington and Beijing agreed a temporary truce over trade tariffs but each country has since accused the other of breaching the deal.

The call – the first between the two leaders since the trade war erupted in February – “resulted in a very positive conclusion for both countries”, Trump said.

According to Chinese state news agency Xinhua, Xi told Trump that the US should “withdraw the negative measures it has taken against China”.

While last month’s talks in Geneva reduced tariffs, they did not resolve a range of other issues including Chinese exports of rare earth metals and magnets which are essential for manufacturing everything from smartphones to electric vehicles.

Meanwhile, Washington has restricted China’s access to US goods such as semiconductors and other related technologies linked to artificial intelligence (AI).

The inclusion of Lutnick in this week’s meetings with China is “a welcome addition”, according to Swetha Ramachandran, fund manager at Artemis, since he is “behind some of the very harsh export controls of technology to China”.

She told the BBC’s Today programme: “Some of the focus certainly seems to be on rare earths where China, of course, has dominance in terms of producing.

“They mine 69% of the rare earths globally that are quite essential to technology development in the US so I think there are enough chips on the table here that could make it acceptable for both sides to walk away with desired outcomes.”

As well as Lutnick, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer will meet Chinese officials in London.

When Trump announced sweeping tariffs on imports from a number of countries earlier this year, China was the hardest hit. Beijing responded with its own higher rates on US imports, and this triggered tit-for-tat increases that peaked at 145%.