Top US and Chinese economic officials are due to launch a new round of talks in Paris on Sunday to work out the details of a trade truce and prepare the ground for US President Donald Trump’s trip to Beijing, where he will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the end of March.
The talks, led by US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, will focus on US tariffs, the flow of Chinese rare minerals and magnets to US buyers, US high-tech export controls and Chinese purchases of US agricultural products, Reuters reports.
The meeting will be held at the headquarters of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in Paris, a source familiar with the planning said. China is not a member of the club of 38 mostly rich democracies and considers itself a developing country.
US-China trade analysts say the prospects for a major breakthrough, either in Paris or at the Beijing summit, are limited, given the short time for preparations and Washington’s focus on the US-Israeli war against Iran.
– I think both sides have a minimum goal to hold the meeting, in order to avoid interruption and re-escalation of tensions – said Scott Kennedy, an expert on the Chinese economy from the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
– Trump might want to come out of Beijing with big Chinese commitments for the order of new Boeing planes and the purchase of American liquefied natural gas and soybeans, but for that he might have to offer certain concessions regarding American export controls – added Kennedy.
Trump and Xi could potentially meet three more times this year, including at the APEC summit in November in China and the G20 summit in December in the US, which could bring more concrete progress.
The US-Israeli war against Iran is also likely to be a topic of the Paris talks, especially in relation to the rise in oil prices and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, through which China gets 45 percent of its oil.
On Thursday, Bessent announced a 30-day exemption from sanctions to allow the sale of Russian oil stuck in tankers at sea, a move to boost supplies.
On Saturday, Trump called on other countries to help protect shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, after Washington bombed military targets at Iran’s Kharg oil terminal and Iran threatened retaliation.
(Vijesti.ba / FENA)
