Top U.S. and Chinese officials are meeting in London on Monday to try to fortify the countries’ temporary trade truce, which is on track to expire in August.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and U.S. trade representative Jamieson Greer are in the U.K. for the talks with Chinese Vice President He Lifeng. It’s unclear how long negotiations could last, but Chinese officials have predicted they could extend several days.
“The two sides need to make good use of the economic and trade consultation mechanism already in place, and seek win-win results in the spirit of equality and respect for each other’s concerns,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian wrote in a post on X ahead of the meeting. “The Chinese side is sincere about this, and at the same time has its principles.”
President Trump confirmed plans for the London confab last week after a phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping, who the president has described as “extremely hard to make a deal with.”
“The call lasted approximately one and a half hours, and resulted in a very positive conclusion for both Countries,” Trump wrote in a social media post Thursday.
The two sides have been attempting to hash out a long-term trade agreement following Trump’s announcement of sweeping tariff hikes on most countries in April. The Trump administration urged countries last week to come forward with deals more favorable to U.S. interests.
U.S. and Chinese leaders brokered their temporary pause in the tariff hikes after meeting in Geneva last month.
Under that arrangement, the U.S. lowered its tariff rate on Chinese goods from 145 percent to 30 percent, and China agreed to lower its tariff to 10 percent from 125 percent for 90 days.
China’s exports to the U.S. were down 35 percent in May compared to last year, according to the latest analysis from Dutch multinational banking and financial services firm ING Group, adding pressure ahead of the latest round of meetings between the two countries.
“Exports to the U.S. surprisingly decelerated despite the trade war reprieve,” ING’s analysts wrote. “We expect that export growth to the US could recover in the coming months.”
“We could see import front-loading amid the still elevated risk that tariffs could once again move higher in light the uncertainty about trade talks over the past month,” the firm added.
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