U.S.–China Trade and Tariffs

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.