“Very constructive” trade talks between America and China in Malaysia

The US Treasury Department announced that the United States and China held “very constructive” trade talks yesterday in Malaysia, ahead of the expected meeting between the presidents of the two countries in South Korea next week.

A US Treasury Department spokesman told Agence France-Presse that the talks that sought a settlement to the tariff war between the two countries “ended today (yesterday) and were very constructive, and we expect them to resume in the morning.”

US Treasury Secretary Scott Besent met with Chinese Vice Premier Hei Feng in the Merdeka 118 building, the second tallest building in the world.

The two countries with the two largest economies in the world are seeking to avoid further escalation in the war on mutual tariffs, and US President Donald Trump is expected to meet his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, in South Korea next Thursday for this purpose.

The US President hoped that this summit would lead to concluding a “good” deal with China and ending the trade war, even though he had previously threatened to cancel the meeting being held on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit on October 31.

China, which is the world’s largest producer of metals used to make vital magnets for the automotive, electronics and defense industries, had previously announced this month new controls on the export of rare earth technologies, prompting Trump to threaten to resort in response to imposing additional 100% tariffs on imports from China.

Both countries also began imposing fees on each other’s ships, a measure initiated by Washington after an investigation under Chapter 301 concluded that Beijing’s control of the sector was unjustified, prompting Beijing to respond in kind.