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Top officials from the U.S. and China convened in Stockholm on Monday for five hours of direct discussions, aiming to ease tensions and prevent another costly tariffs escalation. The meeting took place at the Swedish Prime Minister’s office and marks a renewed effort to stabilize relations between the world’s two largest economies following months of trade disputes.
The U.S. delegation, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, arrived at Rosenbad, the Swedish Prime Minister’s Office, in the early afternoon. Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng was also present and captured on video footage.
China faces a critical August 12 deadline to reach a sustainable tariff agreement with the Trump administration. Previous preliminary agreements in May and June aimed to end weeks of tit-for-tat tariffs and disruptions in rare earth mineral supplies.
Both sides’ negotiators exited the office around 8 p.m. local time without speaking to reporters, and discussions are expected to continue into Tuesday.
President Trump referenced the talks during a broad press conference with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in Scotland, expressing a desire for China to open its markets more fully. Failure to reach an agreement could cause renewed global supply chain instability, with U.S. duties potentially surging back into triple digits, resembling a bilateral trade embargo.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer indicated that a major breakthrough was unlikely at this stage. Instead, he emphasized ongoing monitoring of the current agreements, ensuring key minerals are flowing smoothly, and laying the foundation for more balanced future trade. Greer spoke to CNBC about these goals.
This Stockholm meeting follows Trump’s recently announced trade deal with the European Union, which includes a 15% tariff on most EU exports to the U.S.
Trade analysts suggest that a further 90-day extension of the current tariff and export controls truce, struck in mid-May, seems probable. Such an extension could facilitate planning for a possible upcoming summit between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, slated for late October or early November.
Reports from the Financial Times indicate that the U.S. has temporarily paused restrictions on technology exports to China to prevent disrupting ongoing trade negotiations and to support Trump’s efforts to meet with Xi this year.
Meanwhile, in Washington, bipartisan support is emerging for new bills targeting China’s policies on minority groups, dissidents, and Taiwan, focusing on security and human rights issues, which could complicate the Stockholm talks.
Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te is reportedly delaying a planned August trip to the U.S., which was meant to include stops in American cities. Sources say this move is to avoid provoking Beijing, which claims Taiwan as its territory, a claim Taipei rejects. The U.S. has historically faced Chinese objections to any gestures of support for Taipei.
Earlier trade discussions in Geneva and London focused on reducing retaliatory tariffs and restoring the flow of critical minerals and technology, including rare earths, Nvidia chips, and other halted goods. However, broader economic issues—such as U.S. concerns over China’s state-led export model flooding markets with cheap goods and China’s complaints about U.S. export controls—have yet to be addressed.
Scott Kennedy, a China economics expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, explained that the early talks were primarily about resetting the relationship so both sides could eventually negotiate the core disagreements.
U.S. officials, including Bessent, have indicated the need for China to rebalance its economy away from dependency on exports toward domestic consumption, aligning with longstanding U.S. objectives.
Experts believe that negotiations are inherently more complex than with other Asian nations, given China’s control over rare earth minerals and magnets critical to military, automotive, and tech industries. These resources serve as leverage in ongoing trade disputes.
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