How China Is Stacking Its Team for US Trade Talks

Donald Trump isn’t the only one who can claim to know the art of the deal. China’s surprisingly quick agreement with the US to wind back punitive tariff rates has put a spotlight on a negotiating team that features decades worth of technical trade experience alongside a top aide of President Xi Jinping. Vice Premier He Lifeng brought with him to Geneva a team well prepared to take on US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer. Here’s how two vice ministers and veteran negotiators, Li Chenggang and Liao Min, backed up 70-year-old He in the talks.
India may now be aiming for a similarly tough approach. The country has threatened to impose retaliatory tariffs on the US in response to Trump’s higher duties on steel and aluminum.
For a less combative strategy, there’s always planes. Trump’s long-held fascination with the world of aviation is proving a useful tool for governments and companies seeking to win his favor, a dynamic that was on full display during his tour of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

For China, there’s still the ongoing tech war, and the fentanyl issue. The US Commerce Department issued guidance stating that the use of Huawei’s Ascend artificial intelligence chips “anywhere in the world” violates the government’s export controls, escalating US efforts to curb technological advances in China. The guidance stands to make it all the more difficult for Shenzhen-based Huawei to fulfill its ambitions of developing more powerful chips for AI and smartphones. Separately, the US has made it clear to China that failing to coordinate on the fentanyl issue comes at a cost, according to Nicholas Burns, America’s former ambassador to Beijing.