The US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer held a video call with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng on Friday evening Eastern Time (October 17th).
After the meeting, Chinese state media reported that the US and China engaged in “frank, in-depth, and constructive exchanges” on important issues in bilateral economic and trade relations, agreeing to hold a new round of economic and trade negotiations as soon as possible.
Scott Bessent also issued a statement on X, saying, “Tonight, Vice Premier He Lifeng and I had frank and in-depth discussions on US-China trade issues.”
“We will continue discussions in a face-to-face meeting next week,” Bessent said.
The US Trade Representative’s Office also confirmed on social media that the three parties had “a frank dialogue on US-China trade relations,” hinting that the upcoming meeting next week could pave the way for a possible “Trump-Xi summit.”
The office further stated, “Both sides will switch to face-to-face talks next week, scheduled before @POTUS (US President Trump) meets with Chairman Xi Jinping.”
Prior to this, Trump had threatened to cancel his meeting with Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit at the end of this month due to China’s strict rare earth controls.
However, just hours before this video call, Fox News released excerpts of an interview with Trump, where he stated that he would still meet Xi at the APEC summit.
The optimistic sentiment that tensions between the US and China may ease helped Wall Street stocks recover on the same day.
The recent trigger for the new round of trade tensions was Beijing’s announcement last week of comprehensive controls on the crucial rare earth industry, which is vital for products ranging from smartphones to missiles. This prompted Trump to threaten imposing 100% tariffs on Chinese imports starting on November 1 unless Beijing lifts the restrictions.
The US-China tariff truce agreement is set to expire on November 10.
Amid this high-level video conference, Washington is rallying the Group of Seven (G7) to respond to China’s latest export controls.
European Commissioner for Economic Affairs Valdis Dombrovskis stated in Washington that G7 finance ministers have agreed on coordinating short-term response measures and diversifying supply sources.
German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil expressed, “We have clearly stated within the G7 that we do not agree with China’s actions.”
Bessent also called on the International Monetary Fund and World Bank to take a firmer stance against China.