Tariffs, US-China table in London: here's what to expect

China and the United States back at the negotiating table. Following the Geneva talks in May and the phone call between Xi Jinping and Donald Trump, delegations from the two superpowers are meeting in London in an attempt to ease tensions in the trade war after the fragile 90-day truce in the exchange of tariffs and counter-duties and amid continuing friction. The venue for the talks has not been disclosed.

Representing the US are Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer. The Chinese delegation is led by He Lifeng, vice-premier and China's economic czar loyal to Xi who will remain in the UK until Friday. "We want China and the United States to continue to move forward with the agreement reached in Geneva," White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told Fox News.

In recent days, Trump has accused China of violating the Geneva Agreement. "The Administration has been monitoring China's compliance with the agreement and we hope to move forward for more in-depth trade talks," Leavitt added. And in these hours to CBS, the head of the National Economic Council, Kevin Hassett, explained that the US wants to restore the flow of critical minerals, the basis of many technologies, to levels before the trade war escalated. "Exports of critical minerals are at a higher rate than they were, but not at the levels we agreed to in Geneva," he pointed out.

A British government spokesman recalled that the UK, which hosts the talks after Switzerland, 'supports free trade. We have always been clear that a trade war,' he repeated, 'is in nobody's interest'. For China, the outcome of the negotiations will depend on the 'sincerity' of the US, as the nationalist tabloid Global Times wrote, quoting He Weiwen of the Center for China and Globalization.

These negotiations are expected to produce a limited agreement that can slow, but not stop, the erosion of trade relations, as the Washington Post writes. China's determination to reduce its dependence on other countries, first and foremost the US, and Donald Trump's erratic approach to trade diplomacy make it difficult to reach a comprehensive agreement between Beijing and Washington, including on the nature of the Chinese economy. Last week, Bessent had called on the Chinese government to rethink its economic policies that harm, he pointed out, all trading partners. 'Either they want to be a reliable partner for the rest of the world, or not,' he had declared.