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SENIOR economic officials from the United States and China are due to begin a fresh round of negotiations in Paris on Sunday aimed at stabilising their fragile trade truce and paving the way for a summit between President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping later this month in Beijing.
Reuters reported on Sunday that the discussions will bring together U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Chinese Vice Premier HE Lifeng and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer at the headquarters of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.
The talks are expected to address lingering trade disputes, including tariffs, access to strategic materials, technology export restrictions and Chinese purchases of American agricultural goods.
Officials familiar with the preparations said the meeting was intended to smooth remaining obstacles in the October 2025 trade agreement reached by Trump and Xi in Busan, South Korea, which helped avert a sharp escalation in tensions between the world’s two largest economies.
Analysts say expectations for a major breakthrough are limited, partly because the negotiations were arranged with little preparation and because Washington’s attention has been heavily focused on the ongoing conflict involving Iran in the Middle East.
Scott Kennedy, a China economics specialist at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said the immediate objective for both governments was modest.
“Both sides, I think have a minimum goal of having a meeting, which sort of keeps things together and avoids a rupture and re-escalation of tensions,” he said.
Kennedy added that the American president might seek significant economic pledges during the Beijing summit, including large Chinese orders for Boeing aircraft and increased purchases of U.S. liquefied natural gas and soybeans.
However, he suggested such commitments might require concessions from Washington on technology export controls.
Instead, he said the more likely outcome of the upcoming summit was limited progress. There were strong chances, he said, of a meeting that “superficially suggests progress but that really just leaves things about where they've been for the last four months.”
Further opportunities for diplomacy may arise later in the year, with both leaders potentially meeting again at a China-hosted APEC summit in November and a G20 summit in the United States in December.
Energy concerns stemming from the war involving Iran are also expected to feature in the Paris discussions.
The conflict has driven oil prices higher and raised fears of disruption to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a vital corridor through which China receives roughly 45 per cent of its oil imports.
The United States announced a temporary 30-day waiver of sanctions allowing Russian oil stranded aboard tankers to be sold, a move intended to increase supply and ease pressure on global markets.
Meanwhile, Trump has called on other countries to help safeguard maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz after American forces carried out strikes on Iranian military targets at the Kharg Island oil terminal and Tehran threatened retaliation.
Chinese state media has urged both sides to maintain dialogue despite global tensions. In an editorial, the China Daily newspaper described continued engagement between Washington and Beijing as essential during the Middle East crisis.
“In a moment like this, the last thing the world needs is a trade war between its two largest economies,” the newspaper said.
The Paris talks will also serve as a review of commitments made under the Busan trade truce.
The agreement reduced U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports and suspended for a year Beijing’s stringent export controls on rare earth minerals, while Washington paused the expansion of a blacklist restricting Chinese companies from purchasing advanced American technology, including semiconductor manufacturing equipment.
As part of the deal, China agreed to purchase 12 million metric tonnes of U.S. soybeans during the 2025 marketing year and 25 million tonnes during the 2026 season beginning with the autumn harvest.
American officials say Beijing has so far met its commitments under the agreement, particularly in soybean purchases. However, shortages of rare earth materials continue to trouble some industries.
While certain sectors have received shipments from China, which dominates global production of these minerals, American aerospace and semiconductor manufacturers report growing shortages of key inputs such as yttrium, a material used in heat-resistant coatings for jet engines.
William Chou, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, said Washington’s immediate priorities in Paris were likely to focus on agriculture and strategic materials.
“U.S. priorities will likely be about agricultural purchases by China and greater access to Chinese rare earths in the short term,” he said.
Despite the attempt to maintain cooperation, new trade investigations by Washington threaten to complicate the discussions.
Bessent and Greer have initiated a fresh “Section 301” inquiry into alleged unfair trade practices involving China and 15 other major trading partners, citing concerns about excessive industrial capacity. The probe could lead to additional tariffs within months.
Greer has also launched a separate investigation into alleged forced labour practices in 60 countries, including China, which could result in restrictions on certain imports entering the United States.
The investigations follow a recent ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that struck down earlier global tariffs imposed under emergency powers as unlawful.
The decision effectively reduced tariffs on Chinese goods by around 20 percentage points, although Washington quickly introduced a new global tariff of 10 per cent under a different trade law.
China has criticised the investigations and warned it may respond.
An editorial in China Daily said the probes were “representative of unilateral actions that complicate negotiations.” - March 15, 2026
