Did China’s ‘skilled’ negotiators help break the US trade deadlock?
US officials praised the negotiating style of Chinese counterpart He Lifeng at the successful talks, where Li Chenggang made his debut
As China and the United States concluded their first high-level trade talks since last month’s unprecedented escalation of tariff rates, comments from the US delegation shed light on the negotiating style of their counterparts – providing rare details from a closed-door dialogue between the world’s two largest economies.
“There is a sense of moving forward. There is a sense of mutual respect. There is a sense that we had shared interests.”
The talks were marked by a rare sense of “equanimity” and mutual respect, Bessent said, and their tenor stood in sharp contrast to the negotiations led by former vice-premier Liu He during the first term of current US President Donald Trump.
Those earlier sessions were often fraught with tension and volatility – with numerous reports of abrupt breakdowns, public brinkmanship and mutual distrust on most points of contention.
During last weekend’s meeting, Chinese Vice-Minister of Commerce Li Chenggang also made his debut as a trade representative – a trial by fire the official appears to have surmounted.