US and Chinese negotiators wrapped up two days of talks Tuesday without an immediate announcement of a further tariff delay between the world’s two largest economies as markets watch closely for an offramp to avert additional duties that could be in the offing in about two weeks time.
“We’re going to head back to Washington DC and we’re going to talk to the president about whether that’s something that he wants to do,” said Trade Representative Jamieson Greer after the talks concluded in Stockholm, Sweden.
“The president can make a final call,” he added.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent added Tuesday that it was “a very fulsome two days” of talks and that another 90-day pause remains on the table with the overall tone of talks being “very constructive.”
Trump himself was asked later in the afternoon about the chances of approval, telling reporters on Air Force One he had just spoken to Bessent and that he would decide after a briefing but that Bessent felt good about Tuesday’s meeting.
“The two sides will continue to push for the continued extension of the pause,” added Chinese trade negotiator Li Chenggang, according to a translation, in his own comments to reporters.
But Trump’s team repeatedly underlined Tuesday that rates could “boomerang” back to the much higher April levels depending on the president’s decision, and that nothing is final until Trump signs off.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer speak to reporters after a press conference after the trade talks between the US and China concluded Sweden on July 29. (MAGNUS LEJHALL/TT News Agency/AFP via Getty Images) ·MAGNUS LEJHALL via Getty Images
Bessent added that negotiators didn’t discuss a face-to-face gathering between the two presidents, and that the focus was on policy from Russian oil consumption to rare earth minerals to Chinese export controls and “not to discuss if there would be a meeting.”
Trump added Tuesday he remains hopeful he will meet with Xi “before the end of the year.”
The lack of that hoped-for tariff announcement (at least for today) could raise concerns that the current headline rates of 30% on Chinese imports and 10% on American goods (though sector-specific tariffs push overall tariffs higher) could rise amid fears of a market-rattling snap back to triple digital levels seen earlier this year.
The higher rates are scheduled to kick in Aug. 12 absent another pause.
It was the third meeting of the American and Chinese trade teams in recent months, with previous gatherings having taken place in Geneva and London. Bessent said Tuesday that each meeting has built on the last.
He Lifeng, China’s vice premier for economic policy, led the talks for his country. His colleague Li Chenggang added that the two sides had “candid exchanges over each others trade and economic concerns.”
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President Donald Trump boards Air Force One in Scotland on July 29 to head back to Washington. (BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images) ·BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI via Getty Images
This latest round of talks had an array of issues on the table, from solidifying recent progress on semiconductors (including a plan to allow the resumption of Nvidia’s (NVDA) AI chip exports to China) as well as Chinese exports of rare earth minerals and China’s consumption of Russian oil.
“Both sides reviewed the implementation of the Geneva and London consensus and fully recognized the implementation,” China’s Li added Tuesday of those closely watched provisions, saying according to a translation that “the two economic and trade teams will continue to maintain close communication.”
But the lack agreement on tariffs came after a series of conciliatory signals from the US side, with the Financial Times reporting that Trump officials have paused tech exports controls for now in part to improve the odds of progress. Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te has also canceled a sensitive trip to Latin America that would have included a stopover in the US that had angered Beijing.
The lack of an announcement also came after days of positive signals suggested one was likely.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick offered on FOX News Channel Monday evening of the 90-day pause idea “Is that a likely outcome? Sure, it seems that way. But let’s leave it to President Trump to decide.”
The widely expected scenario is expected to be a balm to markets if Trump eventually approves the deal.
“As long as they push the deadline out 90 days and we don’t revert to those 145% tariffs that the president sort of escalated earlier in the year, then the market doesn’t much care,” Henrietta Treyz of Veda Partners noted on Yahoo Finance Tuesday morning.
The announcement of another pause came during another crucial week for Trump’s trade agenda and after a pact was announced with the European Union Sunday that sets 15% tariffs but key other trade questions remain outstanding
Negotiations continue with Europe as trade watchers await a formal joint statement on the deal and negotiators still apparently at work to lock in legally binding text.
It also comes ahead of another deadline looming this Friday with other countries — from India to Canada to Taiwan to Mexico to South Korea — who are in talks to strike a deal before Trump’s self-imposed reciprocal tariff deadlines.
Those negotiations now need to come to a head one way or another before Friday with President Trump saying scores of other nations will simply receive letters in the coming days to announce their tariff rates which he says says will start in the 15-20% range.
This post has been updated with additional developments.
Ben Werschkul is a Washington correspondent for Yahoo Finance.
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