US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he will meet his Chinese counterparts in Stockholm next week for their third round of trade talks aimed at extending a tariff truce and widening the discussions.“That deal expires on Aug. 12,” Bessent said on Fox Business of the scheduled end of the current trade truce between the world’s two largest economies. “I’m going to be in Stockholm on Monday and Tuesday with my Chinese counterparts and we’ll be working out what is likely an extension then.”
He also said in the comments on Tuesday that the negotiations with China can now take on a broader array of topics, potentially including Beijing’s continued purchases of “sanctioned” oil from Russia and Iran.
With Bessent as lead negotiator, the Trump administration has softened its approach with China in recent weeks compared with other countries facing a month-end deadline to sign a deal that includes accepting at least a 10% US tariff on their exports. A range of those so-called reciprocal rates are threatened along with levies on goods, including steel, aluminium, cars, and auto parts.The Stockholm talks will follow discussions in Geneva in May that yielded a 90-day pause from sky-high tariffs and a follow-up in London last month that led to each country lifting export controls. The US has relaxed restrictions on sales of less-advanced semiconductors to China, while Beijing boosted shipments of rare earth magnets.Also on Tuesday, President Donald Trump said he could meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping “in the not too distant future.” The countries’ top diplomats met for the first time earlier this month in what both sides described as constructive talks, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio citing a “strong desire” to make a summit happen.In a potential goodwill gesture, Beijing said it suspended an antitrust investigation into the local unit of US chemical manufacturer DuPont de Nemours Inc. The announcement came shortly after Bessent revealed the Stockholm talks next week and adds to signs of a de-escalation in tensions.“Trade is in a very good place with China,” the Treasury chief said in the interview. “We’re going to be talking about a lot of the other things that our countries can do together.”More TalksIf Trump’s first trade war with China is any guide, the US is likely going to seek ways to shrink its trade deficit with China, including by securing a Chinese commitment to buy more American goods. He may demand more action to curb the flow of fentanyl precursors in the US, an issue that the Trump administration has tied to 20% tariffs on Chinese goods.For China, access to advanced technology is likely on the wish list as Beijing seeks new growth drivers to support its slowing economy.It may also push for further concessions on US export controls after the US reversed a ban on sales of its less advanced China-focused H20 artificial intelligence accelerator. Washington has maintained strict restrictions on Chinese access to other vital components for chips and AI, including high-bandwidth memory chips.The Foreign Ministry in Beijing didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment outside working hours.Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, in a message relayed by a spokesman, confirmed Sweden’s role as host and said the talks primarily concern “the relationship between the US and China, but are also of great importance for global trade and the economy.”Bessent added that the US hopes to see China “pull back on some of this glut of manufacturing that they’re doing and concentrate on building a consumer economy.”The US and the European Union have ramped up complaints about China’s industrial capacity, which they say has led to cheap Chinese goods flooding overseas markets and driving out local competition.He also predicted a “rash” of trade deals between now and the Aug. 1 deadline the Trump administration has set for other major economies.Trump has announced he reached a trade deal with Japan that will set tariffs on Japanese imports at 15% and see the key American ally invest $550 billion into the US.Read More: Nikkei 225, Topix indices hit record highs in Japan after trade deal with the US
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