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US and China officials to meet for trade talks in London
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London is playing host to the latest stage in the US and China’s efforts to agree a trade deal.

Top US and Chinese officials are due to meet in the UK capital today, in an attempt to build on the preliminary agreement reached last month in Geneva, with rare-earth minerals and advanced technology likely to be high on the agenda.

Both sides are sending senior representatives – the US delegation is being led by treasury secretary Scott Bessent, commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and US trade representative Jamieson Greer. Vice-premier He Lifeng leads China’s team.

Investors, and leaders, around the globe will hope that the two superpowers can cool their dispute; they’re currently partway through a 90-day truce which reduced the new tariffs between the pair to 10%.

Yesterday, a UK government spokesman said: “The next round of trade talks between the US and China will be held in the UK on Monday.

“We are a nation that champions free trade and have always been clear that a trade war is in nobody’s interests, so we welcome these talks.”

The meeting follows a phone call between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping last week, in which Xi reportedly told Trump to “withdraw the negative measures” which the US has taken against China”.

Reminder: a week ago, China accused the US of “seriously violating” their Geneva pact, after Washington complained that Beijing had not delivered on promises to roll back restrictions on the export of key critical minerals to the US.

The sight of the two sides meeting again may cheer markets, which “are sniffing out the scent of detente”, according to Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management.

Innes writes: "This isn’t your typical trade theatre. Forget the pomp of Mar-a-Lago photo ops – this is trench diplomacy in Savile Row suits, with both sides recognising that the clock is ticking. Trump needs market serenity to maintain the illusion of economic strength heading into the summer.

"At the same time, Xi navigates a domestic economy riddled with landmines in the property sector and a consumer base still struggling to recover from the pandemic. That creates a mutual incentive to tone down the tariff tantrums and cue up the handshake optics – even if no signatures are signed."

Meanwhile, China has slipped further into deflation territory, underlining the importance of agreeing a trade deal with the US.

China’s consumer prices fell for a fourth consecutive month in May, new data from the National Bureau of Statistics shows.

The CPI index fell by 0.1% in May compared with a year ago, indicating a small drop in prices over the last 12 months. That suggests Beijing’s stimulus measures are not boosting domestic consumption and demand.

The annual CPI index has now been in negative territory since February, when it fell 0.7% year-on-year, follows by 0.1% drops in March and April.

The agenda
• All day: US-China trade talks in London

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