Market and product

The administration of US President Donald Trump has suspended restrictions on technology exports to China to avoid harming trade talks with Beijing, the Financial Times newspaper reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng is visiting Sweden from July 27-30 for trade talks with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. The officials are expected to discuss US-China trade and economic relationship, Chinese export controls of rare earths, access to each other's markets, and the overall trade rate.

Over the past few months, the US Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security has been instructed to avoid tough measures against China to maintain positive momentum in the talks and ensure a possible meeting between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping this year, the report said.

However, some current and former US officials said that the main reason for the suspension of US tariffs was fear of retaliatory measures from China, such as restrictions on rare metals and magnet exports, the report added.

China and the US are effectively in a trade war, which erupted after US President Donald Trump imposed a 10% tariff on all Chinese imports in February. In March, the tariff was raised to 20%. After several reciprocal steps, the US tariff on Chinese goods reached 145%, while the tariff on US suppliers in China reached 125%. The two countries then agreed to reduce their respective tariffs to 10% for 90 days, starting May 14. Thus, China has imposed a 10% tariff on US imports, while the United States has levied a 30% tariff on Chinese products, maintaining the 20% "fentanyl" duty.