U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, left, talks with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, on the right at a bilateral meeting between the United States and China in Geneva, Switzerland on Saturday, May 10, 2025.
Keystone/Eda/Martial Trezzini | By Reuters
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Tuesday that he could extend the upcoming deadline for Donald Trump’s trade with China when he meets with his Chinese counterpart in Stockholm next week.
In mid-May, the two sides agreed to suspend most serious tariffs on each other's goods for a 90-day moratorium. The suspension will expire on August 12.
But “we will figure out what might be an extension in talks in Stockholm on Monday and Tuesday,” Bessent said in a Fox Business interview.
“I think trade is a great place to get along with China,” he said.
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersesson confirmed late Tuesday that his country will host the latest talks between Washington and Beijing.
“It is certain that the two countries want to meet in Sweden in order to seek mutual understanding,” Christorison said on X on the translated X.
“The negotiations mainly involve relations between the United States and China, but they are also of great significance to global trade and the economy. Protecting rules-based international trade and Sweden's economic interests in a complex global environment is one of the government's top priorities,” he said.
Bessent said on the FOX business that he hopes the negotiations can involve other areas of potential agreements, including slowing down Beijing “the boldness of the manufacturing industry they are doing and focusing on building a consumer economy.”
The United States also wants to discuss “the recognized Russian and Iranian oil they bought there and the help they have done for Russia in the ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
“So, I think we've actually moved to a very constructive new level with China,” he said. “We're going to be able to get a lot of things done because the deal has reached a good level.”
This obvious progress comes after multiple rounds of discussions, where the United States and China have drawn on embargo-level tariffs and threatened to subvert the world's two highest trading partners.
Trump raised tariffs on Chinese goods to 145% coverage in April, as Beijing became the main goal of the new U.S. government's efforts to reshape the global trade landscape by imposing import tariffs on its economic partners.
China retaliated against U.S. imports in a 125% tariff.
After its initial talks in Geneva in May, both sides agreed to lower their respective tariff rates by 115 percentage points.
At a meeting in London in late June, trade officials in Washington and Beijing confirmed their preliminary agreement.