The first round of Sino-US economic and trade consultation talks lasted for two days in London, and it was reported that the meeting might be extended to a third day. Outside observers believe this indicates that both sides are at an impasse in negotiations, but US Treasury Secretary Basant said that the talks were "productive", and US Commerce Secretary Rutnick said that the talks were proceeding "very very smoothly". Chinese negotiation representative Li Chenggang stated that the past two days of talks were very professional, rational, in-depth, and candid, and that both sides had reached a framework for implementing the consensus of the high-level telephone call and Geneva talks.

According to Bloomberg News reports, Basant left London on the evening of the 10th to attend a congressional hearing in Washington. However, Commerce Secretary Rutnick and Trade Representative Grille continued to stay in London for talks. When leaving Lancaster Palace, the venue of the talks, Basant told the media: "We have had two days of productive talks, and the talks are still ongoing."

According to reports from China Review News Agency, after seven hours of talks on Monday, Tuesday's talks lasted five hours before pausing, and resumed at 8 PM local time in London. By the time this reporter submitted the article, there was no news about the outcome of the talks, but it was reported that the talks might continue until Wednesday.

The focus of these talks is how export controls on chips and rare earths can be relaxed. Unnamed US officials revealed that the US goal is for China to accelerate the issuance of rare earth export licenses, in return, the US will cancel recent export control measures on chip design software, aircraft engines, ethane, nuclear materials, and other items to China.

US Commerce Secretary Rutnick, who did not participate in the Geneva talks, joined the London talks, showing that Trump is eager for China to resume rare earth exports to the US. On the 9th, Trump told reporters at the White House that he received "good reports" from the talks. He said: "We are talking well with China, and China is not easy to deal with."

Rutnick said earlier on the 10th that he believed the talks were going "very very smoothly." He said they had spent a lot of time, effort, and energy, and everyone was working closely. He hinted that the talks might extend to Wednesday: "I hope the negotiations end tonight, but if necessary, we will be here tomorrow." As a result, US stock markets rose.

According to two sources familiar with the matter, before the talks began, Rutnick asked car manufacturers and other companies seeking rare earths and magnets to provide a list of incomplete license applications. He plans to request the issuance of these licenses during the talks.

Original source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1834594985233483/

Disclaimer: This article solely represents the author's viewpoint.