Paris, Mar 16 (AP) China warned Monday that US President Donald Trump's latest tariff moves could harm the countries' trade relationship, at the end of high-level talks in Paris.

Li Chenggang, China's international trade representative, said the Chinese side had expressed serious concern about the trade investigations into manufacturing in foreign countries that the Trump administration launched after the US Supreme Court struck down its earlier tariffs.

“We are concerned that the possible results of such investigations may interfere with or damage the hard-won and stable China-US economic and trade relations,” Li told journalists.

The meeting was meant to prepare for Trump's planned trip to China in about two weeks, though the president has warned that it could be delayed.

Li did not address that, and did not take questions.

The Iran war has emerged as a potential stumbling block just as the US and China were patching up relations following a tariff war in which import taxes soared to triple digits. The two sides later agreed to a one-year truce.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who led the delegation in Paris, said a delay to Trump's visit would not be because of disagreements over the Iran war or efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which is crucial for global shipping.

Trump's visit to China would be the first for a US president since he went in his first term in 2017. It would come five months after he met President Xi Jinping in the South Korean city of Busan. (AP) GRS GRS

Trade investigations risk harming bilateral economic relations as tariff measures prompt diplomatic concern ahead of planned visit. China warned that US trade investigations into foreign manufacturing, launched after the US Supreme Court struck down earlier tariffs, could interfere with or damage bilateral economic and trade relations, and conveyed serious concern that investigation outcomes and subsequent tariff actions might undermine recently stabilised China-US economic ties reached after a prior tariff war and truce.