The United States-Chinese Trade War After Donald Trump’s First Presidency and the Trump-Pu Jinping Correspondence

In May of this year, the two sides agreed to take a 90- day break from the tariffs that they’d imposed on each other. Some U.S. tariffs imposed during a previous trade war during Trump’s first term have remained in place on Chinese goods as well.

There was a brief truce in a meeting of US and Chinese officials in Switzerland last month that was supposed to restart the production of rare earths for American companies. But shipments of the minerals, and the magnets made with them, remain infrequent and tightly controlled. In late May, Ford temporarily closed a factory in Chicago that makes its Explorer sport utility vehicle because of a lack of magnets.

There are tensions between the U.S. and China after they announced new controls on exports of high-end chip technology, including chip design software, to China.

On the call, Mr. Xu warned the leaders of the United States and China that there should not be any attempts to sabotage the relationship between the two countries. One person who has been familiar with the effort said the actions were done with the help of Mr. Trump.

Talks continued into a second day Tuesday, with three of Trump’s top aides attending. The Chinese vice premier and leader of Beijing’s economic team are in London with the commerce secretary, trade secretary and trade representative.

LONDON — The U.S. and China have agreed in principle on a framework to carry out an agreement they reached on resolving their trade disputes last month, Chinese state media said.

The trade war that resulted in a 90-day suspension of most of the tariffs they had imposed on each other had raised fears of a recession.

The U.S and China have clashed over a number of issues, including visas for Chinese students at America’s universities and the use of rare earth minerals in automobiles.

Trump spoke at length with Chinese leader Xi Jinping by phone last week in an attempt to put relations back on track, then announced 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.

The U.K. government says it’s providing the venue and logistics for the U.S.-China talks but is not involved in them. “We are a country that promotes free trade and have always made clear that a trade war is not in anyone’s interests, so we welcome these talks,” it said.

China’s commerce minister Wang Wentao had a conversation with Britain’s business secretary in London. The Chinese commerce ministry said that Wang wanted to see more cooperation between China and Britain on finance and sustainable living.

Overall, U.S. tariffs on goods from China still remain higher than those imposed on other countries. The US cut its base tariffs from China to 30%, while China reduced them to 10%.

Trade war in the United States and China: predictions from a research fellow at the Chatham House international affairs think-tank, London, Tuesday

Relations between the two countries have deteriorated since their tentative truce in Geneva, with each accusing the other of violating the agreement struck there.

According to Yu Jies, senior research fellow at Chatham House international affairs think-tank in London, we should not hold our breath for any major progress after the talks. We are now into the water of the trade negotiations between Washington and Beijing. China is aware of the importance of holding this card of the rare earth export controls. On the other hand, the U.S. really wants to slow down China’s technology progress.”

The two sides will have to sit down and talk over the next few days. Lutnick said Tuesday he expects the talks to go on “all day.” He told reporters the talks were “going well” and “we’re spending lots of time together.” The Chinese delegation is in London all week and talks could go on beyond Tuesday.

The second round of tariffs negotiations between the US and China will take place in Lancaster House, a government mansion in the U.K. There are investors and world leaders watching the talks to see if they can help stave off a trade war.