WASHINGTON: US-China trade talks aimed at ending a damaging tariff war will resume from Tuesday in Washington, the White House has announced.
The last set of talks ended Friday in Beijing with no deal, though US President Donald Trump said the discussions were going “extremely well” and suggested he could extend a March 1 truce deadline for an agreement to be reached.
The next round of negotiations will commence with deputy-level meetings before moving on to principal-level talks on Thursday, a White House statement issued Monday said.
For the US, the talks will be led by Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and include Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, economic policy adviser Larry Kudlow, and trade adviser Peter Navarro.
China’s commerce ministry meanwhile announced it would be represented by Vice Premier Liu He, Beijing’s top trade negotiator.
On Friday, Trump re-iterated he might be willing to hold off on increasing tariffs to 25 percent from the current 10 percent on March 1 on $200 billion in Chinese goods if Washington and Beijing are close to finalizing an agreement to deal with US complaints about unfair trade and theft of American technology.
American officials accuse Beijing of seeking global industrial predominance through an array of unfair trade practices, including the “theft” of American intellectual property and massive state intervention in commodities markets.
Since a December detente, China has resumed purchases of some US soybeans and dangled massive buying of American commodities to get US trade negotiators closer to a deal.
The talks are aimed at “achieving needed structural changes in China that affect trade between the United States and China,” Monday’s statement said.
“The two sides will also discuss China’s pledge to purchase a substantial amount of goods and services from the United States.”
Beijing and Washington have imposed duties on more than $360 billion in two-way trade, which are weighing on their manufacturing sectors and have shaken global financial markets.
US-China trade talks resume in Washington from Tuesday
US-China trade talks resume in Washington from Tuesday
- The last set of talks ended Friday in Beijing with no deal
- The next round of negotiations will commence with deputy-level meetings before moving on to principal-level talks on Thursday
MEA to see $3tn real estate, infrastructure pipeline by 2030, JLL says
RIYADH: The Middle East and Africa region is set to see a $3 trillion pipeline of real estate and infrastructure projects between 2026 and 2030, driven by tight occupancy levels and strong investor demand, an analysis showed.
In its latest report, professional services firm JLL said low vacancy and strong absorption rates are among the key drivers accelerating the sector’s transformation in the region, easing supply constraints and supporting rental and sales growth.
The steady momentum in the region’s real estate and infrastructure sectors underscores the ongoing economic diversification efforts pursued by countries across the region.
In July, real estate consultancy Knight Frank said the Kingdom’s construction output value is expected to reach $191 billion by 2029, representing a 29.05 percent increase from 2024, driven by residential development, ongoing giga-projects and rising demand for office space.
James Allan, CEO, UAE, Egypt and Africa at JLL, said: “Strong market fundamentals boosted the Middle East and Africa real estate market in 2025, setting the momentum for sustained performance across asset classes in 2026.”
He added: “We saw record residential transactions, double-digit growth in industrial and logistics rents, and an exceptionally tight 1 percent office vacancy rate in 2025, driven by professional talent migration, substantial private investment, and strategic infrastructure development.”
According to the report, the delivery of key infrastructure projects in the region will further catalyze new real estate developments and attract increased private sector participation.
In the evolving capital landscape, cross-border capital and alternative financing mechanisms are projected to play an increasingly central role, particularly in greenfield developments where investment stock remains limited.
The report added that improved market transparency across the region, driven by regulatory changes, is also expected to bolster investor confidence in the Middle East and Africa markets.
JLL said the UAE remains central to this growth trajectory, with projected project cash flows of $795 billion from 2026 to 2030, including $470 billion allocated to real estate development.
In November, CBRE echoed similar views on the region’s real estate sector, saying Saudi Arabia’s ongoing economic diversification push is energizing its property market, with office rents in Riyadh climbing 15 percent year on year and occupancy reaching 98 percent by the end of the third quarter of 2025.
CBRE added that the strong performance in Saudi Arabia’s office sector is buoyed by the Kingdom’s non-oil economic expansion and an influx of multinational companies relocating regional headquarters to Riyadh.
