Greer says US and China keep talking on board-of-trade agreement
The Chinese side of any deal would likely cover consumer goods and low-tech items, the U.S. trade representative said.
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U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said American and Chinese negotiators continue working on a board-of-trade agreement. He said the goods included from the Chinese side would likely be consumer products and low-tech items.
The talks follow a meeting between Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng at JPMorgan, which Bessent described as "fulsome." That meeting was planned to cover artificial intelligence and rare earths, and was meant to set the stage for a summit between President Trump and President Xi Jinping. It came after weeks of high-level contact between the two countries on trade and technology, including plans for major tech company chief executives to attend a dinner with Trump and Xi.
Focusing on consumer goods and low-tech items points to negotiators working through lower-stakes categories first, laying groundwork before tackling harder questions. That fits the pattern of the broader engagement between Treasury and Chinese officials in recent weeks.
For markets, the board-of-trade talks look narrow next to the bigger tariff and trade questions still unresolved between the two countries, and traders are treating the news as largely neutral for now.