HONG KONG – U.S. officials and Chinese officials met in London on Monday to rule out a fierce trade dispute between the two largest economies in the world that have shaken the world economy, and China’s restrictions on key minerals on the agenda.
The UK offers venues for discussion, but they are not directly involved in them, and the exact time and location of the meeting remains unknown.
“We are a nation defending free trade and we welcome these consultations as we are constantly making clear that the trade war has no interest in anyone,” a spokesperson for the UK government said.
The impact of the US-China trade lift is already clear, with China reporting on Monday that exports to the US fell 34.5% in May.
Investors were released last month when we and the Chinese representative meeting in Geneva stated that they had reached a preliminary agreement to suspend most of the TIT tariffs they had imposed on each other’s goods, reaching 145%. However, in recent weeks, the two countries have accused each other of violating the agreement.
Four days after President Donald Trump and China’s Xi Jinping made long calls saying the focus was primarily on trade, a new round of talks will happen four days later. The call that Trump said lasted about 90 minutes, spoke just days before Trump took office on January 20th, was the first among two leaders since Trump took office.
Trump, who complained a day ago that XI was “very difficult to make a deal,” said in the Truth Social Post that the call “produced a very positive conclusion.” He told reporters Friday that XI agreed to reopen rare earth minerals and magnet flows to the United States after imposing export restrictions on products, a key component of electronics, automobiles and other industries.
Trump said his administration has “a great progress in China trade,” and said Monday’s meeting was about “clearing.”
The US side will be represented in London by Treasury Secretary Scott Bescent, Commerce Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick and US trade representative Jamieson Greer, with the Chinese delegation being led by his deputy prime minister, his Lifeeng. Bescent, Greer and he were in Geneva last month.
Asian stocks rose on Monday before the talks.