{"id":11581923,"date":"2025-07-28T09:00:03","date_gmt":"2025-07-28T13:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/?p=11581923&preview=true&preview_id=11581923"},"modified":"2025-07-28T11:40:30","modified_gmt":"2025-07-28T15:40:30","slug":"us-china-trade-meeting-stockholm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/2025\/07\/28\/us-china-trade-meeting-stockholm\/","title":{"rendered":"US-China tariff talks may provide clues on a possible Trump-Xi meeting"},"content":{"rendered":"

By JAMEY KEATEN, Associated Press<\/strong><\/p>\n

STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) \u2014 Top trade officials from China and the United States arrived for a new round of talks in Stockholm on Monday in a bid to ease tensions over tariffs between the world\u2019s two biggest national economies.<\/p>\n

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng were meeting at the offices of Sweden\u2019s prime minister for two days of talks that Bessent has said will likely to lead to an extension of current tariff levels.<\/p>\n

Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson greeted He, followed by Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, as the two teams arrived in separate motorcades.<\/p>\n

Analysts say the talks led by Bessent and He could set the stage for a possible meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping later this year to cement a recent thaw in trade tensions.<\/p>\n

\"Chinese
Chinese vice prime minister He Lifeng, center, waves as he arrives at Rosenbad before trade talks between the US and China in Stockholm, Sweden, July 28, 2025. (Fredrik Sandberg\/TT News Agency via AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The talks are the third of their kind this year \u2014 nearly four months after Trump upended global trade with his sweeping tariff proposals, including an import tax that shot up to 145% on Chinese goods. China retaliated, sending global financial markets into a temporary tailspin.<\/p>\n

The Stockholm meeting \u2014 following similar talks in Geneva and London in recent months \u2014 is set to extend a 90-day pause on those tariffs. During the pause, U.S. tariffs have been lowered to 30% on Chinese goods, and China set a 10% tariff on U.S. products.<\/p>\n

The Trump administration,\u00a0fresh off a deal on tariffs with the European Union<\/a>, wants to reduce a trade deficit that came in at $904 billion overall last year \u2014 including a nearly $300 billion trade deficit with China alone.<\/p>\n

China’s Commerce Ministry said last week that the \u201cconsultations\u201d would raise shared concerns through the principles of “mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and win-win cooperation.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Friday, Trump told reporters \u201cwe have the confines of a deal with China” \u2014 just two days after Bessent told MSNBC that a \u201cstatus quo\u201d had been reached between the two sides. Without an extension of the pause, the respective tariff levels could snap back to punishingly high rates.<\/p>\n

While the Chinese side has offered little guidance about the specifics of its aims in Stockholm, Bessent has suggested that the situation has stabilized to the point that China and the U.S. can start looking toward longer-term balance between their two economies.<\/p>\n

For years, since China vaulted into the global trading system about two decades ago, the United States has sought to press various leaders in Beijing to encourage more consumption in China and wrest greater market access to foreign-made \u2014 including American \u2014 goods.<\/p>\n

Other sticking points in the relationship include overcapacity in China \u2014 by far the world’s largest manufacturer \u2014 and concerns about whether Beijing is doing enough to control chemicals used to make fentanyl, analysts say.<\/p>\n