logo
US and Chinese trade negotiators to meet in London

US and Chinese trade negotiators to meet in London

The Nationala day ago

The US and China will hold talks in London on Monday in an attempt to preserve a fragile truce on trade.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer are to lead the delegation from Washington.
Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, who led his country's negotiating team in Geneva in May, is also at the head of Beijing's team in London.
"The meeting should go very well," US President Donald Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News on Sunday that "we want China and the United States to continue moving forward with the agreement that was struck in Geneva".
While the government of UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has repeated it is not involved in the content of the discussions, a representative said: "We are a nation that champions free trade."
UK authorities "have always been clear that a trade war is in nobody's interests, so we welcome these talks", the representative added.
The talks in London come a matter of days after Mr Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping held their first publicly announced phone call since the Republican returned to the White House. Mr Trump said the call, which took place on Thursday, reached a "very positive conclusion".
Mr Xi was quoted by state-run news agency Xinhua as saying that "correcting the course of the big ship of Sino-US relations requires us to steer well and set the direction".
The call came after tensions between the countries had soared, with Mr Trump accusing Beijing of breaching a tariff de-escalation deal reached in Geneva in May. "We need China to comply with their side of the deal. And so that's what the trade team will be discussing" in London, Ms Leavitt said.
In April, Mr Trump introduced sweeping worldwide tariffs that hit China hardest. At one point, the US imposed levies on China of 145 per cent, as both sides engaged in tit-for-tat escalation. China's countermeasures on US goods reached 125 per cent.
After two days of talks in Switzerland, the two sides agreed to reduce their tariffs for 90 days. But differences over certain issues have persisted, including China's restrictions on the export of rare earth minerals used in tech products.
The impact of the tariffs was reflected in the latest official export data released on Monday in Beijing. Exports to the US fell by 12.7 per cent in May, with China shipping $28.8 billion worth in goods. This was down from $33 billion in April, China's General Administration of Customs has said.
Throughout talks with the US, China has opened discussions with other trading partners, including Japan and South Korea, in an effort to build a united front to counter Mr Trump's tariffs.
On Thursday, Beijing turned to Canada, with the two sides agreeing to regularise channels of communication after a period of strained ties. China is expected to host a summit with the EU in July, marking 50 years since Beijing and Brussels established diplomatic ties.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Saudi crude oil supply to China to dip in July, sources say
Saudi crude oil supply to China to dip in July, sources say

Khaleej Times

timean hour ago

  • Khaleej Times

Saudi crude oil supply to China to dip in July, sources say

Saudi Arabia's crude oil supply to China is set to dip slightly in July, trade sources said on Tuesday, but still strong for a third straight month as the OPEC leader regains its market share supplying the world's top crude importer. State oil firm Saudi Aramco will ship about 47 million barrels to China in July, a tally of allocations to Chinese refiners showed, 1 million barrels less than June's allotted volume. State refiners Sinopec, PetroChina and Aramco's joint venture Fujian refinery will be receiving more crude in July, while the allocation for independent refiners Rongsheng Petrochemical, Hengli Petrochemical and Shenghong Petrochemical will dip, the sources said. Saudi Aramco did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The robust Saudi supply comes after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and their allies, known as OPEC+, agreed to hike output in July by 411,000 barrels per day for a third consecutive month. Since April, the OPEC+ eight have now made or announced increases totalling 1.37 million bpd, or 62% of the 2.2 million bpd they aim to add back to the market.

Donald Trump defends sending US Marines to Los Angeles as immigration protests continue
Donald Trump defends sending US Marines to Los Angeles as immigration protests continue

The National

timean hour ago

  • The National

Donald Trump defends sending US Marines to Los Angeles as immigration protests continue

US President Donald Trump has defended his decision to post National Guard and US Marines to Los Angeles, as protests against immigration raids continued. The Pentagon is sending about 700 active-duty US Marines and about 4,000 members of the National Guard in response to the protests. 'If I didn't 'send in the troops' to Los Angeles the last three nights, that once beautiful and great City would be burning to the ground right now, much like 25,000 houses burned to the ground in LA due to an incompetent Governor and Mayor,' Mr Trump said in a post on Truth Social, referring to a highly destructive wildfire that hit the city earlier this year. A defence official told Bloomberg on Monday that the Marines are based in Twentynine Palms, California. The estimated cost for the posting is about $134 million, a senior Pentagon official said on Tuesday. 'This isn't about public safety. It's about stroking a dangerous President's ego,' California's Governor Gavin Newsom said about the decision. 'This is reckless. Pointless. And disrespectful to our troops.' Mr Newsom added later that the purpose of the US Marines is defending democracy. 'They are not political pawns.' He said that the soldiers had been illegally posted to California 'so Trump can have a talking point at his parade this weekend'. Washington will host a large military parade on Saturday to mark the US Army's 250th anniversary. It is also Mr Trump's 79th birthday. The California Governor and Mr Trump have exchanged insults over the past few days, with Mr Newsom saying Mr Trump was acting like a 'dictator' and Mr Trump saying he would arrest Mr Newsom, if he were border chief Tom Homan. California Democratic Representative John Garamendi told CNN that Mr Trump's response to the protests is 'about Trump pretending that he is the king of this nation, that he has the ultimate power and authority to do anything he wants to do'. While the original protest was peaceful, law enforcement responded after demonstrators blocked vehicles in an attempt to stop agents from removing people who had been detained in the raids. Protests intensified on Sunday, as demonstrators blocked a major motorway, throwing rocks, electric scooters and other items on to police vehicles. Several self-driving Waymo cars were set on fire. There have been reports of looting and vandalism in the city. Businesses reported graffiti and broken windows, as well as looted shelves. Police have been firing rubber bullets and flash-bangs into the crowd as they clashed with demonstrators. Scores of protesters have been arrested, in addition to those detained on immigration offences, and at least five police officers injured, according to KTLA 5. Solidarity protests have taken place in cities across the US, in Santa Ana and San Francisco in California, as well as New York, Atlanta and Dallas. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said the protests have begun to decrease in intensity. She blamed the federal government for aggravating the situation by sending in the National Guard and the Marines. 'I think we are an experiment, I think we are a test case for what happens if the federal government decides to take power from a governor and take over a city I think we are the laboratory rats right now for the administration,' she said. 'Stop the raids,' Ms Bass said in a post on X. 'We are a city of immigrants. Washington is attacking our people, our neighbourhoods and our economy. The Trump administration has made cutting down on illegal immigration a cornerstone of its domestic policy, with Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents carrying out an increased number of raids in cities across the country.

UAE ranks first for AI maturity in Arab world, report says
UAE ranks first for AI maturity in Arab world, report says

The National

time2 hours ago

  • The National

UAE ranks first for AI maturity in Arab world, report says

The UAE ranks first in the Arab world in a new AI Maturity Index that examines country readiness for artificial intelligence, according to a new report from online learning platform Coursera. The 2025 Global Skills Report said the country's recent announcement of a UAE-US 5GW AI Campus - unveiled during US President Donald Trump's visit in May, along with the decision by UAE schools to begin teaching mandatory AI classes from age four - helped propel it to to the top in various areas of the report. 'The UAE is rapidly scaling AI learning and infrastructure to drive workforce transformation and regional innovation,' said Kais Zribi, Coursera's manager for Middle East and North Africa. 'Its strong performance on Coursera 's AI Maturity Index, combined with high rankings in overall skills proficiency, demonstrates the country's growing ability to close skill gaps, nurture future talent, and lead in AI readiness.' For AI maturity globally, the UAE ranked 32nd out of 109 countries, according to Coursera. Saudi Arabia ranked 37th place and Qatar placed 45th. Singapore, Denmark, Switzerland, the US and Finland ranked in the top five. In terms of overall AI skills proficiency, the UAE also ranked top in the Arab world. Coursera's report also said that with a 344 per cent increase in AI course enrolment compared to last year, the UAE outpaced the Middle East and North Africa regional average, as well as the global average AI courses selected on the company's learning platform. 'As digital transformation reshapes industries, the UAE is setting a powerful example of how nations can leverage education to build a competitive, inclusive digital economy that prepares its workforce for the future,' said Mr Zribi. Towards the end of last year, a similar report from Coursera projected that UAE interest in AI courses was on the path to grow significantly. Coursera's data for its 2025 Global Skills Report is based in part on the company's stats from its learning platform, along with 'third-party metrics to ensure a more comprehensive assessment, complementing the insights provided by Coursera data'. For the AI Maturity Index, data from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is used as well. Over the past decade, the UAE − the Arab world's second largest economy − has been open about its desire to be an AI front-runner as it diversifies its economy away from oil. The country's efforts have resulted in the establishment of start-ups as well as partnerships and investments from industry leaders like Microsoft, Nvidia and OpenAI. Through the creation of language models such as Falcon Arabic, the UAE has also sought to ensure aspects of Arabic culture are not left behind by the AI surge, with many large language models based on English-language data. AI Minister, Omar Al Olama.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store