The talks between China and the US are set to take place just two days after the UK became the first country to strike a tariffs deal with the Trump administration. The US has agreed to reduce import taxes on a set number of British cars and allow some steel and aluminium into the country tariff-free, as part of a new agreement.

China’s exports grew by just 8.1% in April, a big drop from the previous month after Donald Trump’s triple-digit tariffs took effect, in another sign of the damage the US president’s trade war is causing the world’s two largest economies.

China has reported that its exports rose 8.1% in April from the year before, much higher than most economists had been expecting, in the tail end of a rush by companies and consumers to beat higher U.