US and Chinese officials are set to convene another round of trade negotiations in Malaysia this weekend, as the two rival powers seek to salvage fragile relations ahead of a highly anticipated meeting between President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
Delegations led by US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and China’s Vice Premier He Lifeng will set the stage for talks between Trump and Xi when they meet next Thursday in South Korea.
The fifth round of trade talks comes at a precarious time for US-China relations, after both countries slapped sweeping measures on the other following months of relative calm.
The two countries had struck a trade truce in May following an all-out tariff war, which was extended until November 10 before the latest shots were fired.
Earlier this month, China ramped up its restrictions on rare earths, a move Beijing said was in response to Washington’s expansion of export curbs on US technology. China controls about 90% of the world’s processed output of critical minerals, which are essential to global supply chains for consumer electronics, automobiles and semiconductors.
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