Key US China trade talks set for Monday in London

LONDON - Top U.S. and Chinese officials will sit down in London on Monday for talks aimed at defusing the high-stakes trade dispute between the two superpowers that has widened in recent weeks beyond tit-for-tat tariffs to export controls over goods and components critical to global supply chains.

At a still-undisclosed venue in London, the two sides will try to get back on track with a preliminary agreement struck last month in Geneva that had briefly lowered the temperature between Washington and Beijing and fostered relief among investors battered for months by U.S. President Donald Trumps cascade of tariff orders since his return to the White House in January.

The next round of trade talks between the U.S. and China will be held in the UK on Monday, a UK government spokesperson said on Sunday. We are a nation that champions free trade and have always been clear that a trade war is in nobody’s interests, so we welcome these talks.

Gathering there will be a U.S. delegation led by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, and a Chinese contingent helmed by Vice Premier He Lifeng.

The second-round of meetings comes four days after Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping spoke by phone, their first direct interaction since Trumps January 20 inauguration.

During the more than one-hour-long call, Xi told Trump to back down from trade measures that roiled the global economy and warned him against threatening steps on Taiwan, according to a Chinese government summary.

But Trump said on social media the talks focused primarily on trade led to a very positive conclusion, setting the stage for Mondays meeting in London.

The next day, Trump said Xi had agreed to resume shipments to the U.S. of rare earths minerals and magnets.