United States, China to hold trade talks in Sweden
July 28 (UPI) -- Delegations from the United States and China will meet on Monday in Stockholm to keep the current trade truce alive and possibly negotiate a permanent deal.
The world's two biggest economies will be represented by U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, in the third meeting between the countries in as many months. The May meeting in Geneva saw a 90-day truce get set, and then it was rescued in June when the nations met in London.
Beijing has used its lock on strategic rare earth minerals to its advantage, keeping the United States at the negotiating table and getting some U.S. export demands rolled back.
If anything, the possibility of smooth negotiations seems likely after President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping had a very pleasant conversation when they last spoke on the phone.
Trump said Sunday that the United States "is very close to a deal with China" but didn't offer any deeper details.
Gracious moves have been made since the Trump-Xi chat, like the lifting of the American ban on sales of an important Nvidia chip to China and Beijing backing off on antitrust investigation into American chemical company DuPont.
The Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported Monday that the United States and China are likely to extend their truce by another three months, citing unnamed sources from both sides.
There was a recent flareup between the countries earlier this month when Beijing refused to allow a Chinese American banker for Wells Fargo and an employee of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to leave China. Nonetheless, Secretary Bessent sounded very positive while discussing the impending talks with Fox Business last week, saying that "trade is in a good place" between the two countries.
Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Guo Jiakun was asked Monday in a press conference about where China stands in regard to the upcoming meeting, to which he replied, "For the specifics of the economic and trade talks between China and the U.S. in Sweden, you may stay tuned."
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