BEIJING: China and the United States agreed Saturday to conduct another round of trade negotiations in the coming week, as the world&#39;s two biggest economies seek to avoid another damaging tit-for-tat tariff battle. Beijing last week announced sweeping controls on the critical rare earths industry, prompting US President Donald Trump to threaten 100 percent tariffs on imports from China in retaliation. Trump had also threatened to cancel his expected meeting with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in South Korea later this month on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit. In the latest indication of efforts to resolve their dispute, Chinese state media reported that Vice Premier He Lifeng and US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had &quot;candid, in-depth and constructive exchanges&quot; during a Saturday morning call, and that both sides agreed to hold a new round of trade talks &quot;as soon as possible&quot;. On social media, Bessent described the discussions as &quot;frank and detailed&quot;, and said they would meet &quot;in-person next week to continue our discussions&quot;. Bessent had previously accused China of seeking to harm the rest of the world by tightening restrictions rare earths, which are critical to everything from smartphones to guided missiles. US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer also participated in the call, according to the report by Chinese state news agency Xinhua. Hours before the call, Fox News released excerpts of an interview with Trump in which he said that he would meet Xi at the APEC summit after all. Coordinated response&nbsp;The high-level video call came as Washington worked to rally Group of Seven finance ministers in response to the latest Chinese export controls. For now, the G7 ministers have agreed to coordinate a short-term response and diversify suppliers, the EU&#39;s economy commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis told reporters in Washington. Speaking after the grouping met this week, Dombrovskis noted the vast majority of rare earth supplies come from China, meaning that diversification could take years. &quot;We agreed, both bilaterally with the US and at the G7 level, to coordinate our approach,&quot; he said on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank&#39;s fall meetings. Countries would also exchange information on their contacts with Chinese counterparts as they work out short-term solutions, he added. German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil told journalists he hopes that Trump and Xi&#39;s meeting can help to resolve much of the US-China trade conflict. &quot;We have made it clear within the G7 that we do not agree with China&#39;s approach,&quot; he added, referring to the group of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States. International Monetary Fund chief Kristalina Georgieva also expressed hope Friday for an agreement between the countries to cool tensions. The US-China trade war reignited this year as Trump promised sweeping tariffs on imports soon after returning to office. At one point, US-China tariffs escalated to triple-digit levels, effectively halting some trade as businesses waited for a resolution. The two countries have since lowered their respective levies, but their truce has remained shaky.

Americas

China and the United States agreed to hold new trade talks after tensions flared over rare earth export controls and tariff threats. Both sides signaled willingness to negotiate as G7 nations coordinated responses.

China and US agree to fresh trade talks

BEIJING: Residents of China&#39;s capital city expressed indifference and defiance Saturday when asked by AFP about the latest threat by US President Donald Trump to impose blistering new tariffs on the country. On Friday, Trump announced suddenly that the United States would slap additional 100 percent tariffs on all Chinese imports from November 1 &quot;or sooner&quot;, also calling into question an upcoming meeting with President Xi Jinping. Chinese authorities have yet to publicly respond to the threat, which Trump said was in retaliation for Beijing&#39;s new export control measures in the strategic rare-earth sector. The ministries of foreign affairs and commerce did not comment when asked about it by AFP on Saturday. &quot;I felt nothing when I first saw the news,&quot; said Liu Ming, a 48-year-old employee in a software company, outside a large Beijing shopping mall. &quot;Trump always has these childlike or capricious policies,&quot; said Liu. &quot;China isn&#39;t afraid of any US sanctions or policies aimed at limiting us. We have the confidence and ability to do better ourselves.&quot; Great commotionLike others interviewed by AFP on the streets of Beijing on Saturday, Liu sees Trump as fickle. &quot;From the perspective of a Chinese person, he is a bit unreliable,&quot; he said. &quot;He always goes from this policy to that policy, causing great commotion in the world. &quot;It is not stable.&quot; Irene Wang, an insurance worker in her thirties, echoed the sentiment. &quot;He says one thing today, but maybe after a nap he&#39;ll change his mind again,&quot; joked Wang. &quot;At his age (79), he should be a little more composed!&quot; She believes the sky-high tariffs Trump is threatening could backfire. &quot;For Americans, it could have an impact,&quot; she said, as tariffs on Chinese products could drive up prices in the United States. As for the potential impact on people living in China, Wang acknowledged she couldn&#39;t completely ignore the news. &quot;Honestly, it isn&#39;t the first time, so we will have to wait and see how things play out.&quot; Hoping for &#39;normalSome residents of the Chinese capital told AFP they expected only a moderate impact on their country&#39;s economy if the trade war with Washington escalates again. &quot;The import-export sector, especially those businesses, will inevitably be affected to some extent,&quot; said Jesicca Yu, 40. But &quot;for ordinary people in China, in the immediate future, I don&#39;t think much will change in their daily lives,&quot; she said. Yu also bemoaned the tense relationship between Beijing and Washington. &quot;The more peaceful things are, the more economic development can take place,&quot; she said. &quot;We hope things go back to normal.&quot; Lisa Liu, a colleague of Yu who is in her thirties, said she saw one good thing in Trump&#39;s unpredictable approach to governing. &quot;He gives us a lot to talk about at the dinner table,&quot; she said.

China

Residents of China's capital city expressed indifference and defiance Saturday when asked by AFP about the latest threat by US President Donald Trump to impose blistering new tariffs on the country

'China isn't afraid': Beijingers shrug off Trump tariff threat

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump said on Friday that he&rsquo;s placing an additional 100% tax on Chinese imports starting on November 1 or sooner, potentially escalating tariff rates close to levels that in April fanned fears of a global recession.&nbsp;The president said on his social media site that he is imposing these new tariffs because of export controls placed on rare earth elements by China. The new tariffs built on an earlier post Friday on Truth Social in which Trump said that &ldquo;there seems to be no reason&rdquo; to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping as part of an upcoming trip to South Korea.&nbsp;Trump said that &ldquo;starting November 1st, 2025 (or sooner, depending on any further actions or changes taken by China), the United States of America will impose a Tariff of 100% on China, over and above any Tariff that they are currently paying.&rdquo;&nbsp;The announcement came after financial markets closed on Friday and risked throwing the global economy into turmoil. Not only could the global trade war instigated by Trump be rekindled, but import taxes being heaped on top of the 30% already being levied on Chinese goods could, by the administration&#39;s past statements, cause trade to break down between the US and China in ways that could cause growth worldwide to slump.&nbsp;While Trump&#39;s wording was definitive, he is also famously known for backing down from threats. Some investors began engaging in what The Financial Times called the &ldquo;TACO&rdquo; trade, which stands for &ldquo;Trump Always Chickens Out.&rdquo;&nbsp;The prospect of tariffs this large could compound the president&#39;s own political worries inside the US, potentially pushing up inflation at a moment when the job market appears fragile and the drags from a government shutdown are starting to compound into layoffs of federal workers.&nbsp;The president also said that the US government would respond to China by putting its own export controls &ldquo;on any and all critical software&rdquo; from American firms.&nbsp;The United States and China have been jostling for advantage in trade talks, after the import taxes announced earlier this year triggered a trade war between the world&#39;s two largest economies. Both nations agreed to ratchet down tariffs after negotiations in Switzerland and the United Kingdom, yet tensions remain as China has continued to restrict America&#39;s access to the difficult-to-mine rare earths needed for a wide array of US technologies.&nbsp;Trump did not formally cancel the meeting with Xi, so much as indicating that it might not happen as part of a trip at the end of the month in Asia. The trip was scheduled to include a stop in Malaysia, which is hosting the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit; a stop in Japan; and a visit to South Korea, where he was slated to meet with Xi ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.&nbsp;&ldquo;I was to meet President Xi in two weeks, at APEC, in South Korea, but now there seems to be no reason to do so,&rdquo; Trump posted.&nbsp;Trump&rsquo;s threat shattered a monthslong calm on Wall Street, and the S&amp;P 500 tumbled 2.7% on worries about the rising tensions between the world&rsquo;s largest economies. It was the market&#39;s worst day since April when the president last bandied about import taxes this high. Still, the stock market closed before the president spelled out the terms of his threat.&nbsp;China&#39;s new restrictionsOn Thursday, the Chinese government restricted access to the rare earths ahead of the scheduled Trump-Xi meeting. Beijing would require foreign companies to get special approval for shipping the metallic elements abroad. It also announced permitting requirements on exports of technologies used in the mining, smelting and recycling of rare earths, adding that any export requests for products used in military goods would be rejected.&nbsp;Trump said that China is &ldquo;becoming very hostile&rdquo; and that it&#39;s holding the world &ldquo;captive&rdquo; by restricting access to the metals and magnets used in electronics, computer chips, lasers, jet engines and other technologies.&nbsp;The Chinese Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to an Associated Press request for comment.&nbsp;Sun Yun, director of the China program at the Stimson Center, said Beijing reacted to US sanctions of Chinese companies this week and the upcoming port fees targeting China-related vessels but said there&rsquo;s room for de-escalation to keep the leaders&#39; meeting alive. &ldquo;It is a disproportional reaction,&rdquo; Sun said. &ldquo;Beijing feels that de-escalation will have to be mutual as well. There is room for maneuver, especially on the implementation.&rdquo;&nbsp;The US president said the move on rare earths was &ldquo;especially inappropriate&rdquo; given the announcement of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza so that the remaining hostages from Hamas&#39; October 7, 2023, attack can be released. He raised the possibility without evidence that China was trying to steal the moment from him for his role in the ceasefire, saying on social media, &ldquo;I wonder if that timing was coincidental?&rdquo;&nbsp;There is already a backlog of export license applications from Beijing&rsquo;s previous round of export controls on rare earth elements, and the latest announcements &ldquo;add further complexity to the global supply chain of rare earth elements,&rdquo; the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China said in a statement.&nbsp;Gracelin Baskaran, director of the Critical Minerals Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, DC, said China signaled it is open to negotiations, but it also holds leverage because to dominates the market for rare earths with 70% of the mining and 93% of the production of permanent magnets made from them that are crucial to high-tech products and the military.&nbsp;&ldquo;These restrictions undermine our ability to develop our industrial base at a time when we need to. And then second, it&rsquo;s a powerful negotiating tool,&rdquo; she said. And these restrictions can hurt efforts to strengthen the US military in the midst of global tensions because rare earths are needed.&nbsp;Trump&#39;s trade warThe outbreak of a tariff-fueled trade war between the US and China initially caused the world economy to shudder over the possibility of global commerce collapsing. Trump imposed tariffs totaling 145% on Chinese goods, with China responding with import taxes of 125% on American products.&nbsp;The taxes were so high as to effectively be a blockade on trade between the countries. That led to negotiations that reduced the tariff charged by the US government to 30% and the rate imposed by China to 10% so that further talks could take place. The relief those lower rates provided could now disappear with the new import taxes Trump threatened, likely raising the stakes not only of whether Trump and Xi meet but also of how any disputes are resolved.&nbsp;Differences continue over America&#39;s access to rare earths from China, US restrictions on China&#39;s ability to import advanced computer chips, sales of American-grown soybeans and a series of tit-for-tat port fees being levied by both countries starting on Tuesday.&nbsp;Nebraska Republican Rep. Don Bacon said &ldquo;China has not been a fair-trade partner for years,&rdquo; but the Trump administration should have anticipated China&rsquo;s restrictions on rare earths and refusal to buy American soybeans in response to the tariffs.&nbsp;How analysts see moves by US and ChinaWendy Cutler, senior vice president of the Asia Society Policy Institute, said Trump&rsquo;s post shows the fragility of the d&eacute;tente between the two countries and it&rsquo;s unclear whether the two sides are willing to de-escalate to save the bilateral meeting.&nbsp;Cole McFaul, a research fellow at Georgetown University&#39;s Center for Security and Emerging Technology, said that Trump appeared in his post to be readying for talks on the possibility that China had overplayed its hand. By contrast, China sees itself as having come out ahead when the two countries have engaged in talks.&nbsp;&ldquo;From Beijing&rsquo;s point of view, they&rsquo;re in a moment where they&rsquo;re feeling a lot of confidence about their ability to handle the Trump administration,&rdquo; McFaul said. &ldquo;Their impression is they&rsquo;ve come to the negotiating table and extracted key concessions.&rdquo;&nbsp;Craig Singleton, senior director of the China program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a think tank, said Trump&#39;s post could &ldquo;mark the beginning of the end of the tariff truce&rdquo; that had lowered the tax rates charged by both countries.&nbsp;It&#39;s still unclear how Trump intends to follow through on his threats and how China plans to respond.&nbsp;&ldquo;But the risk is clear: Mutually assured disruption between the two sides is no longer a metaphor,&rdquo; Singleton said. &ldquo;Both sides are reaching for their economic weapons at the same time, and neither seems willing to back down.&rdquo;

Trump has not formally cancel the meeting with Xi; trip was scheduled to include a stop in Malaysia.



Trump threatens tech export limits, new 100% tariff on Chinese imports starting Nov. 1 or sooner

Reuters

WASHINGTON: U.S. President Donald Trump urged EU officials on Tuesday to hit China with tariffs of up to 100% as part of a strategy to pressure Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to a U.S. official and an EU diplomat.&nbsp;Trump also encouraged the European Union to slap India with similarly expansive tariffs, said the official, who requested anonymity to discuss private conversations.&nbsp;The Reuters Daily Briefing newsletter provides all the news you need to start your day. Sign up here.&nbsp;China and India are major purchasers of Russian oil and, as such, they play a vital role in keeping Russia&#39;s economy afloat as it continues to pursue its expanded invasion of Ukraine, which began in 2022.&nbsp;Trump made the request, which was conveyed via conference call, to EU sanctions envoy David O&#39;Sullivan and other EU officials. The EU delegation is currently in Washington to discuss sanctions coordination.&nbsp;The EU diplomat said the U.S. had indicated it was willing to impose similar tariffs if the European Union heeded the U.S. request.&nbsp;&quot;They are basically saying: We&#39;ll do this, but you need to do it with us,&quot; the diplomat said.&nbsp;The U.S. request, if heeded, would result in a change of strategy for the EU, which has preferred to isolate Russia with sanctions rather than tariffs.&nbsp;China firmly opposes the U.S. applying such so-called economic pressure, its foreign ministry said at a regular press briefing on Wednesday, adding that it also opposed the using of China in discussions on Russia.&nbsp;Trump, whose request was first reported by the Financial Times, has frequently threatened to impose tariffs on India and China as punishment for their purchases of Russian crude.&nbsp;While Trump did hike tariffs on India over the summer by 25 percentage points in part due to its economic relationship with the Kremlin, Trump has yet to pull the trigger on the more punishing options he has floated.&nbsp;At times, he has complained that Europe itself has not fully decoupled from Russia, which supplied about 19% of EU gas imports last year although the bloc says it is committed to fully ending its dependency on Russian energy.&nbsp;Later on Tuesday, Trump suggested that the U.S. could in fact boost trade with India, writing in an evening social media post that the U.S. and India are working to address trade barriers between the nations. He added that he was looking forward to speaking with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

India

Trump urges EU to impose 100% tariffs on China and India to pressure Putin over Russian oil ties, signaling the U.S. may take similar actions if EU agrees.

Articles tagged with "Tariff"

China and US agree to fresh trade talks

'China isn't afraid': Beijingers shrug off Trump tariff threat

Trump threatens tech export limits, new 100% tariff on Chinese imports starting Nov. 1 or sooner

Trump urges EU to impose China, India tariffs to pressure Putin