KUALA LUMPUR – US President Donald Trump said he was confident of hashing out a deal with Chinese President Xi Jinping, whom he is expected to meet next week, after top economic officials from both countries reached a preliminary consensus in trade talks that concluded on Oct 26.

US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent met Chinese Vice-Premier He Lifeng and top trade negotiator Li Chenggang on the sidelines of

for a fifth round of in-person discussions since May.

“I think we have a very successful framework for the leaders to discuss on Thursday,” Mr Bessent told reporters.

He told NBC’s “Meet the Press” that he anticipated the agreement would defer China’s expanded export controls on rare earth minerals and magnets and avoid a new 100 per cent US tariff on Chinese goods threatened by Mr Trump.

He said Mr Trump and Mr Xi would discuss soybean and agricultural purchases from American farmers, more balanced trade and resolving the US fentanyl crisis, which was the basis of 20 per cent US tariffs on Chinese goods.

Mr Trump

for the summit, his first stop in a five-day Asia tour that is expected to culminate in a face-to-face with Mr Xi in South Korea on Oct 30.

After the talks, he struck a positive tone, saying: “I think we’re going to have a deal with China.”

The US President also hinted at possible meetings with Mr Xi in China and the US. “We’ve agreed to meet. We’re going to meet them later in China, and we’re going to meet in the US, in either Washington or at Mar-a-Lago,” he said.

Mr Li said both sides had reached a “preliminary consensus” and will next go through their respective internal approval processes.

“The US position has been tough,” he said. “We have experienced very intense consultations and engaged in constructive exchanges in exploring solutions and arrangements to address these concerns.”

Both sides are looking to avert an escalation of their trade war after Mr Trump

on Chinese goods and other trade curbs from Nov 1 in retaliation for China's vastly expanded export controls on rare-earth magnets and minerals.

Beijing and Washington rolled back most of their triple-digit tariffs on each other’s goods under a trade truce, which is due to expire on Nov 10.

The US and Chinese officials said they discussed trade expansion, an extension of the truce, fentanyl, US port entrance fees, rare earths, TikTok and more.

Mr Li described the discussions as “candid”, while Mr Bessent said they were “very substantial negotiations”.

Mr Bessent said the truce could be extended, pending the President’s decision, marking a second extension since it was first signed in May.

Talking points

While the White House has officially announced the highly anticipated Trump-Xi talks, Beijing has yet to confirm that the two leaders will meet.

Among Mr Trump’s talking points with Mr Xi are Chinese purchases of US soya beans, concerns around democratically governed Taiwan, which Beijing views as its own territory, and the release of jailed Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai.

The detention of the founder of the now-defunct pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily has become the most high-profile example of China’s crackdown on rights and freedoms in the Asian financial hub.

Mr Trump also said that he would seek China’s help in Washington’s dealings with Russia, as Moscow’s war in Ukraine approaches its fourth year.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Oct 26 that the

in return for trade benefits with China.

Fragile truce

Tensions between the world’s two largest economies flared in the past few weeks as a delicate trade truce – reached after their first round of trade talks in Geneva in May and extended in August – failed to prevent the two sides from hitting each other with more sanctions, export curbs and threats of stronger retaliatory measures.

The latest round of talks is likely to centre on

that have caused a global shortage.

That has prompted the Trump administration to consider a block on “critical software” exports to China, from laptops to jet engines, according to a Reuters report.

A day before the talks commenced, the US launched a new tariff investigation into China’s “apparent failure” to comply with the “Phase One” trade deal signed in 2020. The new unfair trade practices probe bolsters Mr Trump's toolkit against China.