US, China trade officials to meet in Malaysia amid escalating rare earths dispute

US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said on Wednesday that he and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent would travel to Malaysia later that day as scheduled to meet with Chinese officials over what he called Beijing’s “incredibly aggressive” measures to curb rare earth exports.

The meeting is seen as a stepping stone to a sit-down in South Korea next week on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping at a time of deep bilateral divisions.

Separately, Bessent told CNBC that there was still a place on the schedule for the meeting, but it would be a mutual decision if it actually happens.

This follows comments by Trump on Tuesday that the meeting between himself and Xi might not take place, although the mercurial US president has a history of teasing events both for publicity and to extract last-minute concessions from those on the opposite side of the negotiating table.

Greer said the steps China took on October 9 violated a commitment officials from the two sides had made months ago to keep supplying rare earths needed for high technology. But he added that there was still a “good landing zone” for the US and China to trade in a more equitable way.

08:58

What are rare earths, and why is China’s dominance facing global pushback

Beijing has a different version, however, which analysts said speaks to the perilous miscommunication as the two economic giants negotiate in public, trade accusations and engage in tit-for-tat salvoes that are building their own momentum.

South China Morning Post