Senior U.S. and Chinese officials began crucial talks in Paris on Sunday, seeking to resolve trade hurdles ahead of President Donald Trump’s planned late-March visit to Beijing for a summit with President Xi Jinping.
Hosted at the OECD headquarters, the discussions are led by U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer also participating.
The focus lies on adjusting U.S. tariffs, ensuring reliable supplies of Chinese rare earth minerals and magnets vital for industries like aerospace and semiconductors, relaxing American high-tech export limits, and boosting China’s purchases of U.S. farm products such as soybeans. These elements build on last year’s European meetings that prevented a collapse in trade between the world’s top two economies.
Experts caution that time constraints and Washington’s preoccupation with the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran dim prospects for bold breakthroughs.
“Both sides, I think, have a minimum goal of having a meeting, which sort of keeps things together and avoids a rupture and re-escalation of tensions,” said Scott Kennedy, a China expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. He anticipates Trump pushing for major Chinese orders of Boeing aircraft, LNG, and soybeans, but expects only superficial gains that maintain the status quo.
The Iran conflict adds urgency, with oil prices surging due to threats against the Strait of Hormuz, through which China sources nearly half its crude. Recent U.S. strikes on Iran’s Kharg Island and a sanctions waiver for Russian oil underscore supply worries.
Talks will review the October 2025 Busan trade truce, which cut tariffs, paused rare earth restrictions, and secured Chinese soybean commitments—largely met so far, though U.S. firms face shortages of key materials like yttrium.
“U.S. priorities will likely be about agricultural purchases by China and greater access to Chinese rare earths in the short term,” noted William Chou of the Hudson Institute.
New U.S. probes into unfair practices and forced labour could spark fresh tariffs, drawing Chinese ire.