China and US agree to fresh trade negotiations to ease tariff battle

China and the United States agreed on Saturday to conduct another round of trade negotiations in the coming week, as the world's two biggest economies seek to avoid another damaging tit-for-tat tariff battle.

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Beijing last week announced sweeping controls on the critical rare earths industry, prompting US President Donald Trump to threaten 100 per cent tariffs on imports from China in retaliation.

Trump had also threatened to cancel his expected meeting with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in South Korea later this month on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.

In the latest indication of efforts to resolve their dispute, Chinese state media reported that Vice Premier He Lifeng and US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had "candid, in-depth and constructive exchanges" during a Saturday morning call, and that both sides agreed to hold a new round of trade talks "as soon as possible".

On social media, Bessent described the call as "frank and detailed", and said they would meet "in-person next week to continue our discussions".

Bessent had previously accused China of seeking to harm the rest of the world by tightening restrictions rare earths, which are critical to everything from smartphones to guided missiles. US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer also participated in the call, according to the report by Chinese state news agency Xinhua.

Hours before the call, Fox News released excerpts of an interview with Trump in which he said he would meet Xi at the APEC summit after all.