METALS-Copper rises on US-China dialogue hopes

SHANGHAI, May 6 (Reuters) - Copper prices edged higher on Tuesday, buoyed by signs of U.S.-China trade talks and despite U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's defense of President Trump's tariffs.

Benchmark copper CMCU3 on the London Metal Exchange (LME) was up 0.8% to $9,441 a metric ton as of 0719 GMT.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Monday defended President Donald Trump's tariffs, emphasising that his broader agenda, including tax cuts, would eventually lead to long-term economic growth.

Beijing is "evaluating" Washington's offer to hold talks over Trump's 145% tariffs, China's Commerce Ministry said on Friday. It said the U.S. approached China to seek talks and Beijing's door was open for discussions, signalling a potential de-escalation in the trade war.

"It doesn't seem to be a smooth journey for trade talks and investors are growing increasingly worried about potential negative effects on worldwide economic expansion and subsequent metal demand," a trader said.

The U.S. economy shrunk in the first quarter, for the first time in three years, amid a flood of imports to beat Trump's tariffs, and the International Monetary Fund has forecast that U.S. GDP will grow only 1.8% in 2025.

In other London metals, aluminium CMAL3 rose 0.3% to $2,438 a ton, zinc CMZN3 added 1.8% to $2,654, lead CMPB3 increased 0.3% to $1,939, tin CMSN3 was up 3.4% to $31,750 and nickel CMNI3 gained 1.2% to $15,665 a ton.

The most-traded copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) rose 0.1% to 77,600 yuan ($10,759.84) per ton.

SHFE aluminium SAFcv1 lost 1.0% to 19,785 yuan a ton, zinc SZNcv1 fell 0.7% to 22,355 yuan, lead SPBcv1 declined 0.9% to 16,700 yuan, nickel SNIcv1 rose 0.5% to 124,630 yuan and tin SSNcv1 was up 0.3% to 260,970 yuan.

($1 = 7.2120 Chinese yuan renminbi)