US Treasury Secretary and Chinese vice premier to meet in bid to defuse tariff tensions
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Friday he expects to meet next week with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in Malaysia to try to forestall an escalation of U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods.
Bessent made the announcement during a White House cabinet meeting and later confirmed plans for a meeting after a call with He on Friday evening. Bessent said on X the two officials “engaged in frank and detailed discussions regarding trade between the United States and China.”
“We will meet in-person next week to continue our discussions,” Bessent wrote.
China state news agency Xinhua reported that He and Bessent had “candid, in-depth, and constructive discussions on major issues in bilateral economic and trade relations” in a video call, and agreed to a new round of trade talks as soon as possible.
The two officials previously met in four European cities over six months to hammer out a tariff truce that brought duties down from triple-digit levels for each country. That agreement expires on November 10.
In the meantime, the head of the World Trade Organization urged the U.S. and China to de-escalate trade tensions, warning that a decoupling by the world’s two largest economies could reduce global economic output by 7% over the longer term.
WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala told Reuters in an interview the global trade body was extremely concerned about the latest spike in U.S.-China trade tensions and had spoken with officials from both countries to encourage more dialogue.
