What will take place on Thursday in South Korea between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping will be a face-to-face meeting between two unarmed leaders. In the sense that the United States and China seem to have laid down their arms in the trade war waged for some time by the two superpowers.
The delegations of the United States and China have in fact announced that they have reached an agreement in principle at the end of two days of discussions in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur. “I can describe the discussions as constructive, relaxed and profound. Which provides us with the possibility of making progress, before the summit, in a very positive context”, declared the Treasury Secretary of Washington, Scott Bessent. “The United States has been clear in asserting its positions and China has been determined in defending its interests and rights,” he commented for his part Li ChenggangChinese vice-minister of Commerce.
“They want an agreement, and we want it too,” President Trump commented on Sunday, thus confirming the progress made during the negotiations.
The pre-agreement reached in Malaysia allows the truce agreed between China and the United States to be extended beyond the date of November 10th and to avoid the imposition of 100% duties on products exported from China to the USA, which would have started on November 1st.
An agreement would have been reached on soybeans ((since May, China has blocked imports of soybeans grown in the United States) and on rare earths, with China having undertaken to postpone the entry into force of export restrictions for a year, reviewing the measure in the meantime. Last October 9, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce had once again updated the regulation on export controls of these critical and strategic materials. These are elements that the Chinese government fears they could be used in military devices of various kinds that could threaten Chinese national security.
The agreement also includes Beijing’s green light for the purchase of TikTok USA by a group of American entrepreneurs. Finally, part of the agreement would concern the fight against the trade of fentanyl.
“After going through a period of turbulence and fluctuations in the last month, the economic and trade relations between China and the United States have once again delivered positive news, bringing relief to the whole world,” underlines the Chinese newspaper Global Times in an editorial.
The climate is certainly more relaxed between Washington and Beijing, on the eve of a meeting (the first between the two leaders since 2019) which will have other important topics on the agenda. Like the war in Ukraine, and the pressure that Xi can exert on Russian President Vladimir Putin.
