"Chinese and US officials said they held 'detailed' talks in Paris on Tuesday, aiming to manage tariffs and avoid fresh trade tensions. "The topics that we talked about included tariff levels bilaterally under the new circumstances; and the possible extension of the bilateral tariff and non-tariff measures; and the promotion of bilateral trade and investment cooperation," said Li Chenggang, International trade negotiator of the Chinese Commerce Ministry. "In terms of retaliation, as I said, there's great stability in the relationship, and the purpose of these meetings is to prevent any retaliation as we saw this time last year," added Scott Bessent, US Treasury Secretary. It comes after months of fragile trade ties between the world's two largest economies. A one-year truce between Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping in October 2025 lowered the overall tariff rate, but key disputes remained. Both sides now focus on preventing escalation rather than reaching major new agreements and have described the Paris talks as 'preparatory' for a potential Trump-Xi summit. The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) launched two major Section 301 investigations last week regarding manufacturing overcapacity and forced labour, targeting 60 economies, including China."