U.S. Treasury Chief, China Vice Premier to Hold Paris Trade Talks Before Trump Beijing Visit
The Treasury Department says U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will meet Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in Paris on Sunday and Monday for what analysts call the most important bilateral talks before President Donald Trump’s planned March 31 state visit to Beijing, the first by a U.S. president to China since 2017. The meetings are framed as preparatory work to stabilize relations between the world’s two largest economies and to explore concrete deals, such as expanded Chinese purchases of U.S. goods like soybeans and airplanes and ways to manage the trade imbalance. Bessent publicly credited what he called the “bonds of mutual respect” between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping and vowed to “deliver results that put America’s farmers, workers, and businesses first,” while Beijing confirmed He’s trip and said the agenda will focus on “trade and economic issues of mutual concern.” At the same time, China’s Commerce Ministry blasted the Trump administration’s new trade investigation into 16 partners, including China, warning it could “seriously undermine the international economic and trade order” and vowing to take “all necessary measures” to defend its interests if it leads to fresh tariffs after the Supreme Court struck down Trump’s earlier global tariff regime. The Paris talks follow a Busan meeting five months ago where Trump and Xi agreed to a one‑year truce in a trade war that briefly drove tit‑for‑tat tariffs into triple‑digit territory, so business groups and markets will be watching closely for signs of whether this visit produces real de‑escalation or just another cease‑fire before the next round of tariff brinkmanship.
📌 Key Facts
- Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng will meet in Paris on Sunday and Monday for a new round of U.S.–China trade talks.
- The meetings are billed as the key bilateral session before President Donald Trump’s March 31 state visit to Beijing to meet President Xi Jinping, which China has not yet formally confirmed.
- China’s Commerce Ministry simultaneously condemned a new U.S. trade investigation into 16 partners, warning it could lead to new tariffs and pledging to take “all necessary measures” to defend Chinese interests.
- The talks come five months after Trump and Xi met in Busan and agreed to a one‑year truce in a trade war that had temporarily pushed some tariffs to triple‑digit levels before being scaled back.
📊 Relevant Data
The U.S. goods trade deficit with China decreased by $93.4 billion to $202.1 billion in 2025, representing a 32% decline from 2024 levels.
U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services, December and Annual 2025 — Bureau of Economic Analysis
Recent U.S. job losses, including those influenced by tariffs on imports from China, have been concentrated among Black, Asian, and Hispanic workers, contributing to higher unemployment rates in these groups compared to White workers.
Job Losses Hit Black, Asian, and Hispanic Workers Hard, Raising Unemployment in Those Groups — Investopedia
In U.S. manufacturing, which has been affected by trade with China, White employees comprise about 69% of the workforce, Hispanic employees 18%, and Black employees 10%, with job losses in this sector potentially exacerbating existing racial employment disparities.
Trump's Trade War Squeezes Middle-Class Manufacturing Employment — Center for American Progress
The U.S. trade deficit with China has shrunk partly due to imports shifting to countries like Mexico, Vietnam, and Ireland, where deficits have increased, indicating that overall U.S. trade imbalances persist despite changes in bilateral trade with China.
U.S. Trade Deficit With China Shrinks In September; But Mexico, Vietnam And Ireland Goods Gap Surpasses It — Coalition for a Prosperous America
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