US and China poised to extend tariff truce after failing to find resolution at talks
Officials from both sides said after two days of talks in Stockholm that while had failed to find a resolution across the many areas of dispute they had agreed to extend a pause due to run out on 12 August.
Beijing's top trade negotiator, Li Chenggang, said the extension of a truce struck in mid-May would allow for further talks, without specifying when and for how long the latest pause would run.
However, the US trade representative Jamieson Greer stressed that President Trump would have the 'final call' on any extension.
The US Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, joined the talks in the Swedish capital to give weight to the US negotiating team, but appeared to be unable to break the deadlock.
Bessent said he had told Chinese officials that, given US secondary tariff legislation on sanctioned Russian oil, China could face high tariffs if Beijing continued with its Russian oil purchases.
China has taken an aggressive stance in response to Trump's threatened border taxes, retaliating with tariffs of its own on US goods and blocking the sale of vital rare earth metals and components used by American defence and hi-tech manufacturers.
Trump is on course to impose extra tariffs on Mexico and Canada from Friday, barring last-minute deals. Vietnam, Cambodia and several other south-east Asian countries are also lobbying for extensions to talks to head off a rise in US tariffs.
Negotiations between White House representatives and trading partners threatened with high tariffs have often proved to be drawn out. The EU's trade commissioner, Maroš Šefčovič, spent more than 100 hours negotiating before the US agreed to reduce a planned 30% tariff to 15% on EU exports to the US in a deal announced on Sunday.
Pascal Lamy, a former director general of the World Trade Organization, said many of the trade agreements announced by the White House were light on detail and needed further negotiation, leading to further uncertainty.
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He said the deal struck between the US and EU was 'not half-baked, but maybe just two-thirds baked, leaving much more to be discussed and agreed'.
Underlining the stakes, the International Monetary Fund on Tuesday upgraded its global growth forecast to 3% from an estimate in April of 2.8% after the scaling back of the worst Trump trade threats, but flagged a potential rebound in tariff rates as a major risk.
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The Independent
21 minutes ago
- The Independent
Ukraine-Russia war latest: Trump ‘open to' Zelensky attending Alaska summit with Putin
Donald Trump has said he will meet with Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday to discuss the war in Ukraine. The Russian president is expected to use the summit to set out his demands for a ceasefire deal, which includes Ukraine giving up two eastern regions and its sovereignty of Crimea. Speaking to reporters at the White House on Friday, the US president admitted any peace deal may involve 'some swapping of territories'. Reacting to the announcement, Volodymyr Zelensky said "Ukrainians will not give their land to the occupier', and warned that any negotiations must include Kyiv. According to reports, the White House is now considering inviting Mr Zelensky to Alaska. A senior White House official has said that Trump 'remains open to a trilateral summit with both leaders. Right now, the White House is focusing on planning the bilateral meeting requested by President Putin '. A joint statement from European leaders – representing the UK, France, Italy, Germany, Poland, Finland and the European Commission – backed a ceasefire but warned that 'international borders must not be changed by force'. Reactions in Kyiv to idea of Ukraine ceding territory range from scepticism to quiet resignation On the streets of Kyiv, reactions to the idea of Ukraine ceding territory to Russia ranged from scepticism to quiet resignation. "It may not be capitulation, but it would be a loss," said Ihor Usatenko, a 67-year-old pensioner, who said he would consider ceding territory "on condition for compensation and, possibly, some reparations." Anastasia Yemelianova, 31, said she was torn: "Honestly, I have two answers to that question. The first is as a person who loves her country. I don't want to compromise within myself," she told the AP. "But seeing all these deaths and knowing that my mother is now living in Nikopol under shelling and my father is fighting, I want all this to end as soon as possible." Others, like Svitlana Dobrynska, whose son died fighting, rejected outright concessions but supported halting combat to save lives. "We don't have the opportunity to launch an offensive to recapture our territories," the 57-year-old pensioner said, "But to prevent people from dying, we can simply stop military operations, sign some kind of agreement, but not give up our territories." Tara Cobham10 August 2025 07:00 Trump to meet Putin in Alaska for Ukraine peace talks 10 August 2025 06:45 Russian drone strike hits civilian bus near Kherson as Ukraine evacuates residents A Russian FPV (first-person-view) drone struck a civilian bus in the suburbs of Kherson on Saturday morning, killing two people and injuring 19 others, local authorities have said. The strike took place around 8am local time. 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'Russians continue to attack the bridge and the area during evacuation,' said Oleksandr Tolokonnikov, deputy head of the Kherson regional administration. Shahana Yasmin10 August 2025 06:30 Zelensky warns he will not give up land as Trump to meet Putin in Alaska Shahana Yasmin10 August 2025 06:15 Trump's efforts to pressure Russia to end war delivered no progress so far Before Donald Trump announced his summit with Vladimir Putin, his efforts to pressure Russia into stopping the fighting had delivered no progress. The Kremlin's bigger army is slowly advancing deeper into Ukraine at great cost in troops and armour while it relentlessly bombards Ukrainian cities. Exasperated that Putin did not heed his calls to stop bombing Ukrainian cities, Trump had moved up an ultimatum to impose additional sanctions on Russia and introduce secondary tariffs targeting countries that buy Russian oil if the Kremlin did not move toward a settlement. The deadline was Friday. 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In a statement on X, formerly Twitter, Macron wrote: 'Ukraine's future cannot be decided without the Ukrainians, who have been fighting for their freedom and security for over three years now.' He added that Europe must also be part of any peace solution, as its own security is at stake. 'We remain determined to support Ukraine, working in a spirit of unity and building on the work undertaken within the framework of the Coalition of the Willing,' he said. Shahana Yasmin10 August 2025 05:15 Analysis: A Trump-Putin summit will be as useful to Ukraine and democracy as Agent Orange is for gardening Along-overdue summit between the presidents of the United States and the Russian Federation to discuss peace in Ukraine, where nuclear war has been threatened, must be seen as a historic moment for optimism. 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In his evening address on Saturday, Zelensky said Russia must face consequences for its invasion, pointing to the West's failure to punish Moscow after the 2014 annexation of Crimea as a mistake that led to wider war.' Putin was allowed to take Crimea, and this led to the occupation of Donetsk and Luhansk... Now Putin wants to be forgiven for seizing even more,' Zelensky said. 'We will not allow this second Russian attempt to divide Ukraine. Where there is a second, there will be a third.' His statement comes ahead of a planned 15 August summit in Alaska between Donald Trump and Putin, where the two are expected to discuss a possible ceasefire plan, which would reportedly see Russia halt hostilities in return for Ukraine handing over its eastern territories. Shahana Yasmin
The Guardian
28 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Ukraine war briefing: European leaders urge pressure on Russia ahead of Trump-Putin talks
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Telegraph
an hour ago
- Telegraph
NHS to spend more on US drugs as Britain bows to Trump
Ministers are preparing to boost NHS spending on US drugs in a race to avoid a future tariff hit from Donald Trump. The Government told drugmakers last week that it would agree to boost spending on medicines to comparable levels with the US. The promise to increase the GDP share allocated to medicines is understood to have been made as part of talks with drug bosses over the NHS drugs spending cap. It follows demands from the US president that other countries stop 'freeloading' on American innovation and pay more for its medicines. In the US-UK trade agreement, signed earlier this year, ministers said the NHS would review drug pricing to take into account the 'concerns of the president'. The UK's expenditure on new innovative medicines currently stands at just 0.28pc of GDP, around a third of America's proportionate spending of 0.78pc of its GDP. Even in Europe, the UK lags other countries, with Germany spending 0.4pc of its GDP and Italy spending 0.5pc. Ministers are understood to have offered to take steps to get the UK level closer to the US proportion. However, sources said the Government did not provide details on timing or concrete actions as to how the NHS would increase medicine spending. One insider claimed the proposal was 'a lot of jam and a lot of tomorrows'. The offer comes weeks after the US president told the world's biggest drugmakers that they needed to lower prices for Americans, suggesting they pay for this by charging higher fees abroad. In a letter sent to the bosses of 17 pharmaceutical companies, Mr Trump demanded they 'negotiate harder with foreign freeloading nations' for their medicines, suggesting he would use tariffs to push through higher prices if countries resisted. Earlier this year, the Telegraph revealed that the White House was already pressing for the NHS to spend more on American drugs. US officials are particularly concerned by an arrangement that allows the NHS to spend less on medicines than other countries by forcing drugmakers to pay rebates. The UK's voluntary scheme for branded medicines pricing, access and growth (known as VPAG) makes sure that the NHS does not overpay for medicines. It does this by requiring pharmaceutical companies to pay sales rebates back to the NHS if its medicine bill rises faster than expected, essentially keeping a cap on drug costs. Earlier this year, the Department of Health launched a review of the scheme under pressure from Mr Trump and the pharmaceutical industry. Since then, ministers have been in negotiations with drug companies over how much the NHS should be able to claw back in rebates. Drug company chiefs are expected to vote on whether to accept the latest offer next week. The offer follows years where drug bosses have called for the UK to spend more on medicines. Albert Bourla, the chief executive of US drug giant Pfizer, said in June: 'We represent in the UK 0.3pc of their GDP per capita. That's how much they spend on medicine. So yes, they can increase prices.' He said countries were other countries were 'free-riding' on the US. A government spokesman said: 'The VPAG review is one of many ways in which we are taking decisive action to unlock innovation and drive investment in the UK's world-class pharmaceutical sector including the Life Sciences Sector Plan. 'We will make sure the next game changers in medicine are developed here in Britain, for the benefit of our health at home and abroad. 'We continue to work closely with industry, including Associated of the British Pharmaceutical Industry, on the VPAG review and the outcome will be announced in due course.' The Government previously argued it would 'only ever sign trade agreements that align with the UK's national interests and to suggest otherwise would be misleading'.
