China and the US are expected to extend their current tariff truce for another 90 days following trade talks in Stockholm this week, the South China Morning Post reports – citing sources from both sides who were close to the matter.
The third round of negotiations kicked off in Sweden’s capital on Monday. The previous round, in London, UK, saw Beijing and Washington agree to remove most of their sky-high tit-for-tat tariffs for a period of 90 days. That deadline is set to expire on 12 August.
The current talks led by Vice Premier He Lifeng and US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent are expected to tackle sticking points like US accusations over China’s manufacturing overcapacity – which Washington, and the EU, claim is leading to global markets being flooded with cheap goods, undermining local competition. On its side, Beijing objects to US President Donald Trump’s 20 percent tariff over what Washington sees as China’s facilitation of America’s fentanyl drug crisis – something that Beijing strenuously denies.
Speaking ahead of the talks, Niklas Swanstrom, director of the Institute for Security and Development Policy in Stockholm, told the Post he wasn’t holding his breath from any breakthroughs. “I would also be disappointed if nothing comes out,” he added. “I mean, some sort of deal, even if it’s minor – something symbolic has to come out of this.”
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Frederic Cho, vice-chairman of the Sweden-China Trade Council, told the Post the tariff suspension was likely to be extended, noting that US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox Business on Tuesday that he intended to negotiate an extension with his Chinese counterparts in Stockholm.
Philippe Le Corre, head of the Asia programme at ESSEC Business School, meanwhile described the Stockholm talks as a preparatory step toward a possible high-level meeting between President Xi Jinping and Trump at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in South Korea this October.
“It will allow people to figure out the details of the agreement, whose content we still don’t know much about, and then the next meeting will be between the two number ones,” he said.
The latest US-China talks come after Washington struck deals with both the European Union (EU) and Japan. Those will see both EU and Japanese exports to the US taxed at 15 percent. Notably, Japanese cars are included in the deal – giving the country’s carmakers an advantage over other non-US manufacturers, which currently face higher rates.
