US, China Eye Tariff Rollbacks Before Trump-Xi Meeting

China and the United States will hold a new round of high-level trade talks in Paris at the end of next week, according to sources from both sides, as preparations press on for US President Donald Trump’s visit to China.

Led by Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng and US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, the two delegations will meet in the French capital to discuss trade and investment dealsincluding on tariffs, investment, soybeans and rare earths – that would be presented as deliverables when Trump meets President Xi Jinping weeks later, the sources said.

The White House has announced that Trump will travel to China from March 31 to April 2, his first trip to the country since returning to power in early 2025.

Beijing has yet to confirm the schedule, despite saying both sides “have maintained communication at all levels”.The forthcoming meeting led by He and Bessent, of which sources said the date and venue were still subject to change, will be the sixth round of trade negotiations between Beijing and Washington after Trump launched an unprecedented tariff war in April last year.

The two sides previously met in Geneva, London, Stockholm, Madrid and Kuala Lumpur, significantly rolling back tariffs on each other that had reached as high as three digits.

The US-China tariff landscape, however, could enter a new phase of uncertainty following a landmark US Supreme Court ruling in February that struck down 20 per cent tariffs imposed by Trump on Chinese products last year, forcing the administration to scramble for alternatives.

As a temporary replacement, Trump issued an executive order to impose a 10 per cent levy on all goods entering the US for 150 days. 

His administration also signalled more duties through investigations such as Section 301 and Section 232.Beijing’s commerce ministry said it was “closely monitoring and will comprehensively assess the relevant US measures”, with any adjustment to its countermeasures against Washington’s old tariffs – now gone thanks to the Supreme Court ruling – to be determined in due course.

Reviving reciprocal investment could be on the negotiation agenda, as the issue has been touched upon during previous meetings among working-level officials, the South China Morning Post previously reported.One source said both parties were interested in tightly structured joint ventures, licensing arrangements and so-called intellectual property-light models designed to withstand political and regulatory scrutiny.Another source said that rare earths and related technologies – along with new soybean purchases – were also expected to be part of the discussions.

The talks are taking place against the backdrop of the escalating conflict in the Middle East. Since the United States and Israel launched strikes against Iran over the weekend, commercial traffic has largely come to a standstill along the Strait of Hormuz – a waterway linking the Persian Gulf with the Indian Ocean that serves as a vital conduit for global crude flows.

The Paris meeting will also take place after the “two sessions” – the annual gatherings of China’s top legislative and consultative bodies, during which Chinese political elites convene in Beijing to set the agenda for the year and finalise the next five-year plan.