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KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia: A trade deal between the United States and China is drawing closer, officials from the world’s two largest economies said Sunday as they reached an initial consensus for President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping to aim to finalize during their high-stakes meeting.
Any agreement would be a relief to international markets even if it does not address underlying issues involving manufacturing imbalances and access to state-of-the-art computer chips.
Beijing recently limited exports of rare earth elements that are needed for advanced technologies, and Trump responded by threatening additional tariffs on Chinese products. The prospect of a widening conflict risked weakening economic growth worldwide.
China’s top trade negotiator, Li Chenggang, told reporters the two sides had reached a “preliminary consensus,” while Trump’s treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, said there was “a very successful framework.”

Trump also expressed confidence that an agreement was at hand, saying the Chinese “want to make a deal and we want to make a deal.” The Republican president is set to meet with Xi on Thursday in South Korea, the final stop of his trip through Asia.
Bessent told CBS’ “Face the Nation” that the threat of additional higher tariffs on China was “effectively off the table.” In interviews on several American news shows, he said discussions with China yielded initial agreements to stop the precursor chemicals for fentanyl from coming into the US, and that Beijing would make “substantial” purchases of soybean and other agricultural products while putting off export controls on rare earths.

When asked how close a deal was, Trump’s trade representative, Jamieson Greer, said on “Fox News Sunday” that “it’s really going to depend” on the two presidents.
Meanwhile, Trump reiterated that he plans to visit China in the future and suggested that Xi could come to Washington or Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s private club in Florida.
The progress toward a potential agreement came during the annual summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, in Kuala Lumpur, with Trump seeking to burnish his reputation as an international dealmaker.
Yet his way of pursuing deals has meant serious disruptions at home and abroad. His import taxes have scrambled relationships with trading partners while a US government shutdown has him feuding with Democrats.

Trump attends ceasefire ceremony between Thailand and Cambodia

At the summit, Thailand and Cambodia signed an expanded ceasefire agreement during a ceremony attended by Trump. His threats of economic pressure prodded the two nations to halt skirmishes along their disputed border earlier this year.
Thailand will release Cambodian prisoners and Cambodia will begin withdrawing heavy artillery as part of the first phase of the deal. Regional observers will monitor the situation to ensure fighting doesn’t restart.
“We did something that a lot of people said couldn’t be done,” Trump said. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet called it a “historic day,” and Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said the agreement creates “the building blocks for a lasting peace.”
The president signed economic frameworks with Cambodia, Thailand and Malaysia, some of them aimed at increasing trade involving critical minerals. The United States wants to rely less on China, which has used limits on exports of key components in technology manufacturing as a bargaining chip in trade talks.
“It’s very important that we cooperate as willing partners with each other to ensure that we can have smooth supply chains, secure supply chains, for the quality of life, for our people and security,” Greer said.
Trump reengages with a key region of the world
Trump attended this summit only once during his first term, and US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth seemed unfamiliar with ASEAN during his confirmation hearing in January.
This year’s event was a chance for Trump to reengage with nations that have a combined $3.8 trillion economy and 680 million people.
“The United States is with you 100 percent, and we intend to be a strong partner and friend for many generations to come,” Trump said. He described his counterparts as “spectacular leaders” and said that “everything you touch turns to gold.”

Trump’s tariff threats were credited with helping spur negotiations between Thailand and Cambodia. Some of the worst modern fighting between the two countries took place over five days in July, killing dozens and displacing hundreds of thousands of people.
The president threatened, at the time, to withhold trade agreements unless the fighting stopped. A shaky truce has persisted since then.
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim praised the agreement between Thailand and Cambodia, saying at the summit that “it reminds us that reconciliation is not concession, but an act of courage.”
Tariffs are in focus on Trump’s trip
Trump in Kuala Lumpur met Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who was also attending the summit. There has been friction between them over Brazil’s prosecution of Jair Bolsonaro, the country’s former president and a close Trump ally. Bolsonaro was convicted last month of attempting to overturn election results in his country.
During their meeting, Trump said he could reduce tariffs on Brazil that he enacted in a push for leniency for Bolsonaro.
“I think we should be able to make some good deals for both countries,” he said.
While Trump was warming to Lula, he avoided Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. The president is angry with Canada because of a television advertisement protesting his trade policies, and on his way to the summit announced on social media he would raise tariffs on Canada because of it.
One leader absent from the summit was Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Although he was close with Trump during Trump’s first term, the relationship has been more tense lately. Trump caused irritation by boasting that he settled a recent conflict between India and Pakistan, and he has increased tariffs on India for its purchase of Russian oil.

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina: Polls closed and vote counting began Sunday in Argentina’s pivotal midterm elections, which will determine whether libertarian President Javier Milei can continue his polarizing campaign of downsizing the state.
The legislative elections are the first national test of support for Milei since he won office two years ago on a promise to revive the long-ailing Argentine economy by dint of painful reforms.
Half of the seats in the Chamber of Deputies and one-third of the Senate are up for grabs.
Milei’s small La Libertad Avanza  party is hoping to significantly increase its seat tally in both chambers but is not expected to secure a majority.
Polls closed at 6:00 p.m.  after ten hours of voting, with low turnout seen as a sign of disillusionment both with Milei and the opposition.
Preliminary results are expected Sunday evening.
The election run-up was marked by a run on the national currency, the peso, that forced Milei to seek a bailout from US President Donald Trump, a close ally.
Washington has promised an unprecedented $40 billion package of aid, but the assistance came with a warning from Trump to Argentines that he would not “be generous” if the outcome Sunday is unfavorable for Milei.
Argentines fear the government could depreciate or devalue the peso, widely seen as too strong, after the vote.
Questioned about the possibility on Sunday after he cast his ballot, Economy Minister Luis Caputo replied: “No.”
“Monday is just another day, nothing changes to the economic program or the band system,” he said, referring to the peso-dollar exchange rate band set by the government in April.

‘Nothing for workers’

Clad in his trademark leather jacket, Milei voted in Buenos Aires on Sunday morning, greeting waiting supporters but refusing media questions.
Adriana Cotoneo, a 69-year-old pensioner also voting in Buenos Aires, told AFP she backed his party “not because I believe it’s the best option, but because I’m clear about who I want to be gone” — a reference to the center-left Peronist party that governed Argentina for most of its post-war history but has been dogged by allegations of corruption.
Economist and former TV pundit Milei, 55, electrified the 2023 race by revving a chainsaw at rallies to signify his plans to slash a bloated state and one of the world’s highest inflation rates.
He cut tens of thousands of public sector jobs, froze public works, cut spending on health, education and pensions and led a major deregulation drive, prompting repeated mass protests.
His reforms were blamed for initially plunging millions of Argentines deeper into poverty. But they did slow inflation by two-thirds, to the relief of many, although at a cost of faltering economic growth, consumption and manufacturing.
“The economic plan is not working for the people, for businesses, for industry,” centrist opposition senator Martin Lousteau said as he voted in the capital.
“We need a better Congress, less polarized, with less shouting, insults, and more capacity for dialogue,” he said.

US generosity limited 

Investors began dumping the peso last month after Milei’s party suffered a blistering rejection in bellwether Buenos Aires provincial elections.
Trump stepped in to shore up his closest Latin American ally, calling him a “great leader” and hosting him for talks at the White House.
Milei’s LLA party and its allies could still however struggle to garner the third of seats they need in each chamber to advance the president’s reform agenda in the face of an increasingly combative opposition.
The self-declared “anarcho-capitalist” leader has already seen many of his signature policies blocked by Congress, notably his efforts to privatize major state-owned companies and his veto of increased spending on public universities, emergency pediatric care and people with disabilities.
Adding to his woes, members of Milei’s inner circle have been implicated in a variety of scandals.