KUALA LUMPUR — The United States and China are edging closer to a deal that could pave the way for a meeting between President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping, Washington’s top trade envoy said Sunday, signaling cautious optimism after months of escalating trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies, according to “Reuters”.
US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent met Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit in Kuala Lumpur, marking the fifth round of in-person discussions since May. China’s chief trade negotiator Li Chenggang also took part in the talks, which stretched into a second day.
“I think we’re getting to a spot where the leaders will have a very productive meeting,” Greer told reporters before briefly leaving to meet with Trump. He said discussions covered a “broad range of issues,” including an extension of the fragile truce on trade measures.
The negotiations come as both sides scramble to defuse tensions ahead of a possible October 30 meeting between Trump and Xi in South Korea. The White House has confirmed the planned encounter, though Beijing has not yet officially done so.
The talks aim to avert a deeper trade confrontation after Trump threatened new 100 percent tariffs on Chinese imports beginning November 1, in retaliation for Beijing’s expanded export controls on rare earth minerals and magnets. Those restrictions have disrupted global supply chains and rattled markets already strained by months of reciprocal sanctions and export bans.
Trump arrived in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday morning for the ASEAN summit, his first stop on a five-day Asia tour that will include Seoul. He is expected to press Xi for increased Chinese purchases of US soybeans and for cooperation on Washington’s policy toward Russia, as the war in Ukraine nears its fourth year.
Despite signs of progress, officials warned that any agreement could remain fragile. As one US official put it, “The world’s most important trade relationship still hangs in the balance.”
