US‑China trade talks in Paris
The US and China opened high‑stakes trade talks in Paris aiming to pave a path toward a Trump–Xi summit and ease escalating tensions, reported March 15. Negotiators are tussling over tariffs, rare‑earths access and tech controls — outcomes that will directly affect cross‑border M&A, supply‑chain planning and sector valuations.
Scott Bessent [is leading] bloomberg.com the U.S. delegation with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer [also participating] bloomberg.com, while China’s side is headed by Vice Premier He Lifeng [and includes] malaymail.com Vice Commerce Minister Li Chenggang. The meetings are being held at the OECD headquarters [venue confirmed] malaymail.com and Chinese official schedules list He Lifeng in France March 14–17 for the talks [dates provided] anews.com.tr. The Paris talks are explicitly framed as follow‑ups to the Busan truce struck Oct. 30, 2025, which included a one‑year pause on Beijing’s newly announced rare‑earth export curbs and commitments for Chinese purchases of U.S. soybeans and other agricultural products [truce terms] cnbc.com. The U.S. Supreme Court on Feb. 20, 2026 struck down the administration’s sweeping, presidential‑order tariffs as exceeding executive authority [ruling] politico.com, and USTR Jamieson Greer subsequently launched broad Section 301 investigations on March 11 into 16 trading partners to probe excess capacity that could justify alternative trade measures [investigation] ustr.gov. Market analysts caution that a major breakthrough is unlikely because negotiators have little prep time and Washington’s attention is focused on the Israel‑Iran war, while the Paris meeting continues a series of preparatory European sessions held in Geneva, London and Stockholm since last year [analyst view and meeting history] cnbc.com. Negotiators are reportedly seeking concrete deliverables—Chinese commitments to order Boeing aircraft and to increase LNG and soybean purchases—ahead of the leaders’ scheduled meeting from March 31 to April 2, 2026 [deliverables and summit dates] bloomberg.com, and a maintained pause on rare‑earth curbs would materially change valuations and due‑diligence risk for EV‑battery, magnet and semiconductor supply‑chain assets in cross‑border M&A [sector impact] cnbc.com.
