Top Chinese Trade Negotiator Set To Head To U.S. as Talks Re

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Dow Jones NewsAug 26, 2:38 AM UTC
DJ Top Chinese Trade Negotiator Set To Head To U.S. as Talks Resume -- 2nd Update

By Lingling Wei

 

A senior Chinese trade negotiator is heading to Washington this week for what is expected to be the first dialogue in the U.S. capital, according to people familiar with the matter, as both sides seek to establish a regular dialogue during an extended tariff truce.

 

Li Chenggang, the top aide to Beijing's lead negotiator, He Lifeng, will meet with deputies of U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and officials at the Treasury Department later this week, the people said. Li will also meet with representatives of the U.S. business community.

 

The discussions come as the U.S. and China have extended their pause on higher tariffs through early November. The truce was secured after the two sides agreed to roll back tit-for-tat tariff hikes and ease export restrictions on key goods, including rare earth magnets from China, which are critical for many industrial products, and certain technology products from the U.S.

 

The Trump administration has recently moderated its confrontational tone toward Beijing as President Trump is increasingly focused on trying to strike an economic bargain with China, one that aims to open the Asian giant to more American business and technology. Senior officials from both nations in recent months have also been in talks over a potential summit between Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

 

Speaking to reporters Monday as he met South Korean President Lee Jae Myung in Washington, Trump said he is considering a trip to China as the two countries continue trade negotiations. "At some point, probably during this year or shortly thereafter, we'll go to China," the U.S. president said. "We're going to have a great relationship with China."

 

Still, trade tensions are simmering between the world's two economic powers.

 

Earlier this month, Trump called on China to significantly increase its purchases of American soybeans -- a demand that has so far gone unanswered, with Beijing yet to buy a single cargo from the harvest that begins in September. Meanwhile, the administration is preparing to intensify scrutiny of Chinese imports of steel, copper, and lithium, in a move intended to enforce a U.S. ban on goods allegedly made with forced labor in the Xinjiang region and to align with Trump's broader goals of lowering the trade deficit the U.S. runs with China.

 

In this week's talks, the negotiator, Li, is expected to discuss soybean purchases. Li, currently a vice commerce minister and former Chinese envoy to the World Trade Organization, has years of experience using global trading rules to push back against the U.S. Some Americans who have sat opposite him in negotiations call him a tough yet effective negotiator.

 

Before making any commitment to buy items such as soybeans or Boeing planes, Beijing will continue to demand the Trump administration remove 20% tariffs linked to the fentanyl trade, according to the people familiar with the matter.

 

So far, however, the people said, China has yet to offer a proposal for curbing the trafficking of fentanyl ingredients that the Trump administration considers sufficient.

 

Li is also expected to continue to push the Trump administration to loosen restrictions on tech sales to China, the people said, though so far, he hasn't had any meetings scheduled with the Commerce Department, which oversees export controls.

 

The administration's decision in July to lift a ban on sales of Nvidia's H20 chips to China has stirred up debate in Washington over how to balance U.S. companies' commercial interests against national-security concerns. Some analysts have questioned the decision, arguing it sets a dangerous precedent by allowing export controls to be used as a bargaining chip.

 

Many U.S. business executives believe it remains crucial for Washington and Beijing to engage in meaningful discussions about China's economic and industrial policies that they say have long distorted global markets and hampered fair competition.

 

"We're very encouraged to see the two sides engage in direct negotiations," said Sean Stein, president of the U.S.-China Business Council, which represents over 270 American companies doing business in China. "There are opportunities for the two sides to make progress on critical issues that extend beyond tariffs and export controls to broader trade matters."

 

Write to Lingling Wei at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

 

August 25, 2025 22:38 ET (02:38 GMT)

 
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