As United States President Donald Trump begins a five-day trip to Japan, Malaysia and South Korea, his team is set to meet with Chinese officials in Kuala Lumpur to lay the groundwork for a possible meeting between Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping and to seek ways to ease rising trade tensions.
The talks, which will be held on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit, aim to chart a way forward after President Trump threatened to impose 100 percent tariffs on Chinese goods and additional trade restrictions from Jan.
The three US officials who will meet with Chinese officials are US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng.
Josh Lipsky, chairman of international economics at the Atlantic Council in Washington, told Reuters of a meeting between Xi and Trump that it could not happen without an agreement between the two countries.
“The meeting cannot happen without an agreement that they can go back to this temporary truce that we had over the summer,” Lipsky said.
He said the meeting would also discuss reversing China’s decision to expand control over rare earth controls. “I’m not sure the Chinese can agree to that. It’s the primary leverage they have,” Lipsky said.
Even better, Donald Trump said the 100 percent tariffs China is threatening are not “sustainable.”
The US president also blamed China for the latest setback in trade talks, citing Beijing’s move to tighten controls on rare earth exports.
“I think we’ll be fine with China, but we have to have a fair deal. It has to be fair,” Donald Trump said.
When asked if such high tariffs on Chinese imports were sustainable, Donald Trump said no. Also read | Trump, China’s Xi Jinping to meet – but will they make it? Why it matters for rare earth stocks
“It’s not sustainable, but that’s the number,” Donald Trump said in an interview, adding, “They forced me to do it.”
While a meeting appears likely amid ongoing trade and customs tensions, an interim agreement could offer the two countries a way to ease the stalemate.
