BESSENT PREPS IN SOUTH KOREA
While Trump rubbed shoulders with Huang and Elon Musk aboard Air Force One, Bessent held his latest round of trade negotiations with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng at a reception room at South Korea’s Incheon airport.
A US official said the talks ran about three hours. China’s official Xinhua news agency described them as “candid, in-depth and constructive exchanges”, but officials did not offer any detailed summary.
Trade ties between Beijing and Washington have been fraught in recent years. The two sides are eager to maintain a truce struck last October in which Trump suspended triple-digit tariffs on Chinese goods and Xi backed away from choking global supplies of rare earths, vital in making items from electric cars to weapons.
They are also expected to discuss forums to support mutual trade and investment and dialogue on AI issues, while Washington looks to sell Boeing airplanes, farm goods and energy to China to cut a trade deficit that has long irked Trump, US officials have said.
Beijing, for its part, wants the US to ease curbs on exports of chipmaking equipment and advanced semiconductors.
Trump enters the talks with a weakened hand.
Courts have hemmed in his ability to levy tariffs at will on exports from China and other countries.
The Iran war has also boosted inflation at home and escalated the risk that Trump’s Republican Party will lose control of one or both legislative branches in November’s midterm elections.
Though the Chinese economy has faltered, Xi does not face comparable economic or political pressure.
“The Trump administration needs this meeting more than China does, as it needs to show to American voters that deals are signed, money is made,” said Liu Qian, founder and CEO of Wusawa Advisory, a Beijing-based geopolitical advisory firm.
While Trump has lauded his personal rapport with Xi and respect for China, several Beijing residents told Reuters they viewed his visit with a mixture of hope and suspicion.
“I don’t know if he’s genuinely sincere,” Lou Huilian, a 44-year-old who works in the oil trade said outside a metro station as she headed to work on Wednesday.
“But speaking as a Chinese person, and as someone working in trade, I just hope some good policies can come out of this.”
