US, China trade talks kick off in Paris ahead of Trump-Xi summit

Bloomberg News on Mar 15, 2026

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Trade negotiators led by U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and China’s Vice Premier He Lifeng began talks in Paris on Sunday to map out plans for a leaders’ summit later this month.

The trade negotiators are expected to review the latest developments in a truce reached in November and discuss topics including the war in Iran as well as investment and purchases. The outcomes will set the stage for President Donald Trump’s trip to China from March 31 to April 2, the first visit by an American president to Beijing in nearly a decade.

The sit-down also marks the first time the two sides are meeting since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Trump didn’t have the authority to impose tariffs using the International Emergency Economic Powers Act — a tool he used to threaten levies as high as 145% on China.

The Trump administration has since introduced an across-the-board tariff of 10% and vowed to re-create parts of its tariff wall using other authorities. Greer kicked off the process of imposing tariffs under his agency’s Section 301 authority by initiating an investigation into allegations of industrial overcapacity and forced labor practices for several economies, including China.

Bessent, Greer and He have a history of bilateral negotiations. They met in Geneva last May to launch a series of talks that saw follow-on sessions in London, Stockholm, Madrid and Kuala Lumpur. That resulted in a truce under which Washington and Beijing lowered tariffs and export restrictions.

Chinese Vice Finance Minister Liao Min and Vice Commerce Minister Li Chenggang are also at the talks.

In January, Greer said the two sides could try to focus on reaching an agreement on trade in nonsensitive sectors in talks ahead of Trump’s visit to China.

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