Top officials from the United States and China agreed on Tuesday to continue discussions about extending a fragile trade truce that is set to expire in mid-August, but did not immediately reach an agreement to avert a potentially destabilizing trade war between the world’s largest economies.
The announcement came after two days of intensive talks in Stockholm, the third formal round of negotiations since President Trump raised tariffs on Chinese goods to triple-digit levels this year, drawing sharp retaliation from Beijing and bringing much of the trade between the countries to a halt.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who led the U.S. discussions along with Jamieson Greer, the United States Trade Representative, called the talks “constructive” but said the final decision about whether to extend the pause would be made by Mr. Trump.
Mr. Bessent said on Tuesday that “nothing is agreed until we speak with President Trump,” whom they were to meet with on Wednesday. If Mr. Trump approves a tariff pause with China, Mr. Bessent said it would likely be for another 90 days.
Mr. Trump, speaking to reporters on Air Force One on Tuesday, said that he would discuss the situation with his top advisers on Wednesday and “either approve it or not.” He appeared to indicate at one point that the talks between the U.S. and China had hit some unspecified road blocks. “I said, ‘Oh, here we go again,’” Mr. Trump said, before adding, “today it worked out.”
Previous rounds of negotiations secured a temporary cessation of hostilities. China relaxed restrictions on rare earths and the Trump administration rolled back limits on exports of U.S. products and technology, as well as proposed visa restrictions. U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports were scaled back to 30 percent from 145 percent, while China put 10 percent tariffs on American products.
The two sides met for more than five hours on Monday in the offices of the Swedish prime minister, in central Stockholm. They reconvened on for another roughly five hours — breaking to have a salad for lunch — on Tuesday. He Lifeng, the vice premier for economic policy, led the talks on behalf of China.
The negotiations took place at the start of a pivotal week for the global economy. The Trump administration has been trying to win concessions from dozens of countries before an Aug. 1 deadline for reimposing tariffs, which were announced in April and then suspended and in some cases altered to give time and exert leverage for trade deals.
The Trump administration has recently announced preliminary trade agreements with some of America’s largest trading partners: the European Union and Japan. Those deals would impose 15 tariffs on most goods imported from the countries, including cars, and were accompanied by pledges to invest hundreds of billions of dollars in the United States.
But one of the biggest unknowns in Mr. Trump’s chaotic trade agenda is what will happen with China, one of America’s largest sources of imports. After a tit-for-tat period of tariffs and retaliation, each side agreed to ease up after talks in Geneva in May, and in London in June.
Tensions started to spiral after Mr. Trump announced his sweeping tariff hikes in early April. China was the only country to immediately retaliate, matching Mr. Trump’s threatened tariffs. Beijing also restricted exports of seven rare earth elements that are processed almost exclusively in China and used in electric cars, smart bombs and other high-tech devices.
Mr. Trump then responded by ratcheting up tariffs on Chinese products until both countries agreed to a pause.
The Trump administration has pushed to get China to stop the flow of fentanyl to the United States and raised concerns about China’s purchases of Russian and Iranian oil and its recent exit bans that have prevented U.S. citizens from leaving China.
U.S. officials appear to be looking forward to more ambitious trade talks in the months to come, including a potential meeting between Mr. Trump and Xi Jinping, the Chinese leader, this year. But late on Monday, Mr. Trump pushed back against reports of his eagerness to meet with his Chinese counterpart, insisting that Mr. Xi had invited him.
“I may go to China, but it would only be at the invitation of President Xi, which has been extended,” Mr. Trump said in a message posted to his social media site.
Administration officials have discussed the idea of Mr. Trump traveling to Beijing before a meeting of Asian and Pacific countries in South Korea in October, or potentially connecting the President and Mr. Xi on the sidelines of another international meeting.
Melissa Eddy is based in Berlin and reports on Germany’s politics, businesses and its economy.
Alan Rappeport is an economic policy reporter for The Times, based in Washington. He covers the Treasury Department and writes about taxes, trade and fiscal matters.
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