Stockholm (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – On Tuesday, U.S. and Chinese delegations started a second day of trade negotiations in Stockholm to address ongoing economic disagreements and de-escalate the rising trade tensions between the world’s largest economies.
Both sides’ officials met for more than five hours on Monday at Rosenbad, the Swedish prime minister’s office in central Stockholm. The Chinese delegation is led respectively by Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng and US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, leading the US side.
China must finalise a sustainable tariff agreement with Trump’s administration by August 12, following initial agreements in May and June that aimed to resolve weeks of escalating tit-for-tat tariffs and the halt of rare earth mineral exports.
Without an agreement, global supply chains risk experiencing renewed disruption as U.S. duties could surge back to triple digits, effectively creating a bilateral trade embargo.
Is a Trump-Xi summit likely to happen soon?
The Financial Times said on Monday that the United States paused restrictions on tech exports to China to prevent disrupting trade negotiations with Beijing and to support Trump’s goal of arranging a meeting with Xi this year.
U.S. President pushed back against proposals that he was pursuing a summit with Xi. “This is not correct, I am not SEEKING anything! I may go to China, but it would only be at the invitation of President Xi, which has been extended. Otherwise, no interest!” he said.
Also in the U.S, Senators from both parties are set to put forth legislation this week directed at China regarding their treatment of minority groups, dissidents and Taiwan on issues of security and human rights, which may add another layer of complexity in the Stockholm negotiations.
Why is Taiwan’s delayed visit important for Beijing?
Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te is also planning to delay an August trip that his team put together for the Trump administration, which included stops in the United States, Reuters reported.
The proposed visit could have enraged Beijing, which could have disrupted trade negotiations. Specifically, China considers Taiwan part of its territory, a concept Taiwan does not accept, and condemns any support from Washington for Taipei.
Previous U.S.-China trade discussions in Geneva and London during May and June centred on reducing retaliatory tariffs from triple digits, reestablishing the flow of rare earth minerals blocked by China and Nvidia’s H20 AI chips, as well as other goods halted by the US.
How does the U.S. view China’s export strategy?
The U.S. has rebuked China’s state-led, export-oriented model, which has resulted in an abundance of cheap goods on the global market. Meanwhile, Beijing counters that the U.S. technology export controls are for the purpose of throttling China’s development.
Bessent has requested an extension already and argued that it is critically important for China to rebalance its economy away from exports and towards greater domestic consumption, which has been the goal of U.S. policymakers for decades.
