London talks with focus on trade restrictions between delegations from Beijing and Washington started as planned on Monday afternoon.
After about six hours of talks without any news leaking to the outside world, the meeting was concluded to be resumed on Tuesday, according to an American source to news agency Bloomberg.
US President Donald Trump spoke at the White House on Monday and said he "only gets good reports," but added that the talks are not easy.
Kevin Hassett, economic advisor to the White House, signaled just before the meeting began that the Trump administration might consider easing restrictions that slow down technology exports to China if the other side stops limiting the export of rare earth metals to the US.
Strangled trade flows
The meeting in London follows a conversation between leaders Donald Trump and Xi Jinping last week – an attempt to get the stalled trade negotiations going after the agreement in Geneva in May to temporarily lower the high tariffs between the countries for 90 days.
The focus is on the strangled trade flows of advanced US technology to China and important Chinese raw materials to the US, according to Bloomberg.
It's about China's export of rare earth metals, important raw materials for electric cars and defense equipment in the US. But also about the US export restrictions for advanced technical equipment to China, such as AI chips and jet engines.
The atmosphere between the countries has also been negatively affected by new visa rules for Chinese students in the US.
"No low-hanging fruit"
Before the London meeting, the countries have accused each other of breaking the agreement on the tariff pause in May. But Donald Trump has tried to instill hopes that the issues can be solved.
Trump has described the negotiations with China as "very far along." He also described last week's phone call with Xi Jinping as "very good," according to Bloomberg.
But expectations among analysts in London are low, as the issues the countries are to handle are complex.
"This time there is no low-hanging fruit," writes Bloomberg's analysts Adam Farrar and Michael Deng in a comment before the meeting.
The London meeting between trade delegations from the US and China takes place after a phone call between US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping last week.
It takes place within the framework of the negotiating deadline with paused tariffs that the countries agreed on at a meeting in Geneva in May. The tariff pause – where the extreme tariffs of over 100 percent on goods from the other country – expires in August.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent leads the Trump administration at the London meeting. He has with him Trade Minister Howard Lutnick and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.
China's delegation in London is led by Vice Premier He Lifeng, who is close to Xi Jinping.
Source: Bloomberg
