Top Chinese, US trade officials huddle in Sweden for second day of thorny talks over tariffs

Vice Premier He Lifeng arrives to Rosenbad ahead of the second day of trade talks between China and the U.S., in Stockholm, yesterday

Chinese and U.S. trade officials arrived for a second day of meetings in the Swedish capital yesterday to try to break a logjam over tariffs that have skewed the pivotal commercial ties between the world’s two largest economies.

Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng and U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent made no public comments to reporters after the first day of talks that lasted nearly five hours behind closed doors at the Swedish prime minister’s office yesterday [Macau time].

Before the talks resumed yesterday, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson met with Bessent and U.S. trade representative Jamieson Greer over breakfast.

The United States has struck deals over tariffs with some of its key trading partners — including Britain, Japan and the European Union — since President Donald Trump announced “Liberation Day” tariffs against dozens of countries in April. China remains perhaps the biggest unresolved case.

“The Chinese have been very pragmatic,” Greer said in comments posted on social media by his office yesterday [Macau time]. “Obviously we’ve had a lot of tensions over the years. We have tensions now, but the fact that we are regularly meeting with them to address these issues gives us a good footing for these negotiations.”

“Whether there will be a deal or not, I can’t say,” Greer added in the clip posted on X from MSNBC’s “Morning Joe”. “Whether there’s room for an extension, I can’t say at this point. But the conversations are constructive and they’re going in the right direction.”

Many analysts expect that the Stockholm talks, at a minimum, will result in an extension of current tariff levels that are far lower than the triple-digit percentage rates as the U.S.-China tariff tiff crescendoed in April, sending world markets into a temporary tailspin.

The two sides backed off the brink during bilateral talks in Geneva in May and agreed to a 90-day pause — which is set to end on Aug. 12 — of those sky-high levels. They currently stand at U.S. tariffs of 30% on Chinese goods, and China’s 10% tariff on U.S. products.

Other issues on the agenda include access of American businesses to the Chinese market; Chinese investment in the U.S.; components of fentanyl made in China that reach U.S. consumers; Chinese purchases of Russian and Iranian oil; and American steps to limit exports of Western technology, like chips that help power artificial intelligence systems.

The Stockholm meetings could also provide some clarity about the prospects for a summit to be held later this year between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, seen by some as a crucial step to lock in any major agreements between their two countries.

On his Truth Social media platform, Trump insisted yesterday that he was not “seeking” a summit with Xi, but may go to China at the Chinese leader’s invitation, “which has been extended. Otherwise, no interest!”

While the Chinese side has offered few 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 economies.

Since China vaulted into the global trading system about two decades ago, the United States has sought to press leaders in Beijing to encourage more consumption in China and offer greater market access to foreign-made — including American — goods.

Wendy Cutler, a former U.S. trade negotiator and now vice president at the Asia Society Policy Institute, said that Trump’s team would face challenges from “a large and confident partner that is more than willing to retaliate against U.S. interests.”

Rollover of tariff rates “should be the easy part,” she said, warning that Beijing has learned lessons since the first Trump administration and “will not buy into a one-sided deal this time around.”

On Monday, police have cordoned off a security zone along Stockholm’s vast waterfront as rubbernecking tourists and locals sought a glimpse of the top-tier officials through a phalanx of TV news cameras lined up behind metal barriers.

Flagpoles at the prime minister’s office were festooned with the American and Chinese flags. JAMEY KEATEN, STOCKHOLM, MDT/AP