By JILL LAWLESS, Associated Press
LONDON (AP) — The U.S. and China held a second day of talks Tuesday in London aimed at easing their trade dispute, after President Donald Trump said China is “not easy” but the U.S. was “doing well” at the negotiations.
A Chinese delegation led by Vice Premier He Lifeng met U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer for several hours on Monday at Lancaster House, an ornate 200-year-old mansion near Buckingham Palace.
Wang Wentao, China’s commerce minister, and trade negotiator Li Chenggang are also in Beijing’s delegation.
Lutnick said as he arrived Tuesday morning that the talks were “going well,” and he expected them to continue all day.
Asked late Monday how the negotiations were going, Trump told reporters: “We are doing well with China. China’s not easy.”
The two sides are trying to build on negotiations in Geneva last month that agreed to a 90-day suspension of most of the 100%-plus tariffs they had imposed on each other in an escalating trade war that had sparked fears of recession.
Since the Geneva talks, the U.S. and China have exchanged angry words over advanced semiconductors that power artificial intelligence, visas for Chinese students at American universities and rare earth minerals that are vital to carmakers and other industries.
Trump spoke at length with Chinese leader Xi Jinping by phone last Thursday in an attempt to put relations back on track. Trump announced on social media the following day that the trade talks would resume in London.
China, the world’s biggest producer of rare earths, has signaled it may ease export restrictions it placed on the elements in April, alarming automakers around the world who rely on them. Beijing, in turn, wants the U.S. to lift restrictions on Chinese access to the technology used to make advanced semiconductors.
Trump said that he wants to “open up China,” the world’s dominant manufacturer, to U.S. products.
“If we don’t open up China, maybe we won’t do anything,” Trump said at the White House. “But we want to open up China.”
Associated Press writer Josh Boak in Washington contributed to this story.