China, US May Work To Extend Latest Tariff Deadline, Says Chinese Official

NDTV

6 days ago

Beijing:
China's top trade official said Tuesday that China and the U.S. agreed to work on extending a deadline for new tariffs on each other, following a two-day trade meeting in Stockholm. The U.S. side said extension plans were discussed, but not decided.
Li Chenggang told reporters after the meeting that the two sides had "constructive" and "candid" discussions and agreed to work on extending a pause in tariffs beyond the latest deadline of Aug. 12 for a comprehensive trade deal.
However, Li didn't say how the extension would work, and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said the U.S. team would head back to Washington and "talk to the president about whether that's something that he wants to do," though he did say such an extension was discussed during the talks.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the discussions "centered on the two economies." He said the U.S. side expressed concerns that China is producing goods at a rate beyond what is sustained by global demand. It also expressed concerns that China was purchasing Iranian oil and supplying Russia with dual-use tech that could be used on the battlefield.
Bessent said the U.S. side reiterated its trade program and policy, which is to reduce the trade deficit and increase domestic manufacturing.
"But the overall tone of the meetings was very constructive," Bessent said.
Li, China's international trade representative, said the two sides had "comprehensive and in-depth" discussions on macroeconomic issues, agreeing to keep close contact and to "communicate with each other in a timely manner on trade and economic issues."
Chinese and U.S. trade officials opened their latest two-day round of trade talks in the Swedish capital on Monday to try to break a logjam over tariffs that have skewed the pivotal commercial ties between the world's two largest economies.
On the first day, the talks lasted nearly five hours behind closed doors at the Swedish prime minister's office. Before the talks resumed Tuesday, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson met with Bessent and 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 U.S. 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 late Monday. "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 from MSNBC's "Morning Joe" posted on X. "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 had expected that the Stockholm talks would result in an extension of current tariff levels, which are far lower than the triple-digit percentage rates that were proposed 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.
The Stockholm meetings didn't provide any clarity about the prospects for a summit 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.
Bessent told reporters that the summit was not discussed during the talks in Stockholm but "what we discussed was implementing the desire of the two presidents for the trade team and the Treasury team to have trade negotiations with our Chinese counterparts."
On his Truth Social media platform, Trump insisted late Monday 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 more than 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 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.