US-China Paris talks run long; China eyes rules-based agreement phase

Chinese Vice-Premier He Lifeng and Vice Commerce Minister Li Chenggang met US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer in Paris at the OECD headquarters for a new round of US-China trade talks. It is the sixth round of negotiations since May last year and the first since the Trump administration launched a Section 301 probe that could lead to new tariffs on China and 16 other economies. Assoc Prof Dylan Loh from NTU’s Public Policy and Global Affairs programme said discussions likely covered extending the tariff truce, rare earth supply, the Iran situation and ways China could address trade imbalances, such as investing in or purchasing US products. He said: “Even relatively easy ‘small outcomes’ would be enough to show that both sides are still able to reach some form of agreement.”

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