Top US and Chinese Economic Leaders Hold Trade Talks in Paris

Senior economic officials from the United States and China are meeting in Paris to discuss trade issues and prepare for President Trump's upcoming visit to Beijing. The talks focus on tariffs, rare earth minerals, technology exports, and agricultural purchases between the world's two largest economies.

Senior economic representatives from the United States and China began discussions in Paris on Sunday, working to resolve trade disagreements and prepare the groundwork for President Donald Trump’s planned visit to Beijing later this month to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The negotiations, headed by U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, are anticipated to address modifications to American tariffs, Chinese rare earth mineral and magnet exports to the United States, American technology export restrictions, and China’s purchases of U.S. farm products.

The delegations are convening at the Paris offices of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, according to a source with knowledge of the arrangements. China does not belong to this organization of 38 predominantly wealthy democratic nations and identifies as a developing nation.

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer is also participating in the discussions, which represent a continuation of diplomatic meetings held in various European locations last year designed to reduce tensions that nearly caused a complete breakdown in commerce between the world’s two biggest economies.

Experts analyzing U.S.-China trade relations indicated that given limited preparation time and Washington’s focus on the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, the likelihood of significant trade breakthroughs remains slim, whether in Paris or during the Beijing summit.

“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 economics expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

Trump may seek substantial Chinese commitments to purchase new Boeing aircraft and increase imports of U.S. liquefied natural gas and soybeans, but achieving this might require offering concessions on U.S. export restrictions, Kennedy noted.

Kennedy suggested the summit would likely “superficially suggests progress but that really just leaves things about where they’ve been for the last four months.”

Trump and Xi may potentially have three additional meetings this year, including a China-hosted APEC summit in November and a U.S.-hosted G20 summit in December that could produce more concrete results.

The ongoing U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran will likely be discussed during the Paris meetings, particularly regarding rising oil prices and the potential closure of the Strait of Hormuz, through which China receives 45% of its oil supply. Bessent announced a 30-day sanctions waiver Thursday evening to permit the sale of Russian oil currently held in tankers at sea, aimed at increasing available supplies.

On Saturday, Trump called on other countries to assist in protecting shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, following Washington’s bombing of military facilities on Iran’s Kharg Island oil terminal and Iran’s threats of retaliation.

China’s government-controlled China Daily newspaper published an editorial advocating for continued U.S.-China dialogue as a “stabilizing anchor” during the uncertainty of the “ongoing crisis in the Middle East” and as the most effective approach to addressing specific disagreements on strategic materials, technology, market access and agriculture.

“In a moment like this, the last thing the world needs is a trade war between its two largest economies,” China Daily said.

Both nations are expected to assess their advancement in fulfilling obligations under the October 2025 trade agreement announced by Trump and Xi in Busan, South Korea. This arrangement prevented a major escalation in tensions, reduced U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods, and suspended China’s strict rare earth export controls for one year. It also halted the expansion of a U.S. blacklist preventing Chinese companies from purchasing advanced American technology such as semiconductor manufacturing equipment.

China also committed to purchasing 12 million metric tons of U.S. soybeans during the 2025 marketing year and 25 million tons in the 2026 season, beginning with the fall harvest.

American officials, including Bessent, have stated that China has fulfilled its obligations under the Busan agreement so far, pointing to soybean purchases that achieved initial targets.

However, while some industries are receiving rare earth exports from China, which controls global production, U.S. aerospace and semiconductor companies are not and are experiencing worsening shortages of essential materials, including yttrium, used in heat-resistant jet engine coatings.

“U.S. priorities will likely be about agricultural purchases by China and greater access to Chinese rare earths in the short term” at the Paris talks, said William Chou, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, a Washington think tank.

Greer and Bessent also introduce a new source of tension to the Paris discussions: a new “Section 301” investigation into unfair trade practices targeting China and 15 other major trading partners regarding alleged excess industrial capacity that could result in additional tariffs within months. Greer also initiated a similar investigation into alleged forced labor practices in 60 countries, including China, that could prohibit certain imports into the United States.

These investigations aim to restore Trump’s tariff pressure on trading partners after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Trump’s global tariffs under emergency law as illegal. This decision effectively lowered Trump’s tariffs on Chinese products by 20 percentage points, but he immediately implemented a 10% global tariff under different trade legislation.

China condemned the investigations on Friday and stated it reserves the right to implement countermeasures. The China Daily editorial added that the investigations were “representative of unilateral actions that complicate negotiations.”