Yellen Sees ‘More Work to Do’ as China Talks End With No Breakthrough

Four days of top-level economic meetings between the United States and China concluded in Beijing on Monday with no major breakthrough, but the world’s two largest economies agreed to hold more discussions to address rising friction over trade, investment and national security. The conversation is poised to become even more difficult, however, as hopes of greater economic cooperation collide with a harsh political reality: It is an election year in the United States, and antipathy toward China is running high. At the same time, Chinese officials appeared unmoved by Treasury…

Yellen to Warn China Against Flood of Cheap Green Energy Exports

The Biden administration is growing increasingly concerned that a glut of heavily subsidized green technology exports from China is distorting global markets and plans to confront Chinese officials about the problem during an upcoming round of economic talks in Beijing. The tension over industrial policy is flaring as the United States invests heavily in production of solar technology and electric vehicle batteries with funding from the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, while China pumps money into its factory sector to help stimulate its sluggish economy. President Biden and Xi Jinping,…

U.S. Moves to Crack Down on Money Behind Fentanyl Trade

The Biden administration said on Monday that it was creating a “counter-fentanyl strike force” within the Treasury Department to combat trafficking of the drug into the United States by more aggressively scrutinizing the finances of suspected narcotics dealers. The Treasury’s office of terrorism and financial intelligence and the criminal investigation unit of the Internal Revenue Service will lead the new team. It will attempt to find and disrupt money laundering associated with fentanyl trafficking and to more effectively crack down on sanctions violations. Officials from Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network…

Janet Yellen, U.S. Treasury Secretary, Will Meet With Chinese Counterpart

Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen will hold two days of high-level meetings with her Chinese counterpart, Vice Premier He Lifeng, this week, as the United States and China look to build upon an effort that started this year to improve communication between the world’s two largest economies. The meetings will take place on Thursday and Friday in San Francisco ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, which begins on Saturday. The meetings will help lay the groundwork for expected talks at the summit between President Biden and China’s top leader,…

Fragile Global Economy Faces New Crisis in Israel-Gaza War

The International Monetary Fund said on Tuesday that the pace of the global economic recovery is slowing, a warning that came as a new war in the Middle East threatened to upend a world economy already reeling from several years of overlapping crises. The eruption of fighting between Israel and Hamas over the weekend, which could sow disruption across the region, reflects how challenging it has become to shield economies from increasingly frequent and unpredictable global shocks. The conflict has cast a cloud over a gathering of top economic policymakers…

A Rural Michigan Town Is the Latest Battleground in the U.S.-China Fight

Yard signs along the quiet country roads of Green Charter Township, Mich., home to horse farms and a 19th-century fish hatchery, blare a message that an angered community hopes is heard by local leaders, the Biden administration and China: “No Gotion.” The opposition is to a plan by Gotion, a subsidiary of a Chinese company, to build a $2.4 billion electric vehicle battery factory on roughly 270 acres of largely uninhabited scrub land. An investment of that magnitude can transform a local economy, but in this case it is unwelcome…

Blinken Meets China’s Top Diplomat in Latest Bid to Ease Tensions

Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken met with China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, on the sidelines of a regional summit in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Thursday, the latest in a string of diplomatic meetings between U.S. and Chinese officials as the two countries try to ease tensions. The talks between Mr. Blinken and Mr. Wang touched on regional and global issues, including “peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait,” said Matthew Miller, a spokesman for the State Department, who described the discussions as “candid and constructive.” “The meeting was part of…

Looming U.S. Investment Restrictions on China Threaten Diplomatic Outreach

Efforts to ease tensions between the United States and China through a series of diplomatic visits to Beijing could be undermined as the White House presses ahead with plans to impose new restrictions on American investments in Chinese companies involved in quantum computing, artificial intelligence and semiconductors. The looming restrictions were a central topic of discussion between Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen and senior Chinese officials during her four-day trip to China, which concluded on Sunday. The Treasury Department has sought to narrow the scope of the restrictions, which target…

Biden Bets High-Level Diplomacy Can Cool Fiery Relations With China

After three years of self-isolation by China, President Biden’s top aides are flying into Beijing throughout the summer to try to convince and cajole Chinese officials, including Xi Jinping, the nation’s leader, on building a new foundation for relations. It could amount to the most consequential diplomatic push of Mr. Biden’s presidency. He is betting that high-level dialogue can itself act as a ballast in a relationship that has been in a dangerous free fall for years. “I think there is a way to resolve, to establish a working relationship…

Janet Yellen’s Trip to China: 3 Takeaways

The deep chill between the United States and China moderated a little over the past few days as Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen held marathon talks with a new group of top economic policymakers in Beijing. Ms. Yellen used softer language for America’s economic strategy toward China, disavowing a term that had caught on in Washington but offended Beijing. Yet even though more talks are a likely outcome of Ms. Yellen’s trip to China, neither she nor Chinese officials retreated from their policy positions. That left the two sides facing…