Never one to undersell anything, President Donald Trump claimed that on a 0-10 scale his trade talks on Thursday with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping were a “12”. Beijing’s account was cagier, but did not dispute any specific details. What is clear is that the first meeting of the two men for six years resulted in a verbal truce that averts, for now, an escalation in the trade war between the world’s two economic superpowers. Some relief is merited. Yet trading partners and investors should not be lulled into a false sense of security: tensions are still higher than before Trump returned to office, and what is for him the main cause — the trade imbalance between the two sides — is here to stay.
The détente will bring some comfort to various groups, including US farmers and anybody who needs to access the rare earth metals required in making everything from smartphones to satellites. Trump said he agreed to halve 20 per cent tariffs on Chinese goods related to fentanyl after Xi promised to “work very hard” to curb exports of chemical ingredients for the synthetic opioid. Beijing said it would pause for a year the export controls on rare earths it announced this month. China also agreed to resume and increase purchases of US soyabeans.
Less clear is whether the White House is ready to ease curbs on exporting advanced microchips. Trump said it was now up to Nvidia to talk directly to China about the issue, with the US government acting as “arbitrator” or “referee”. The president said he would visit China in April, with the Chinese leader set to visit the US later in 2026. The potentially combustible topic of Taiwan was apparently not discussed.