Top US and Chinese economic officials are set to resume talks in Stockholm on Monday to address longstanding economic disputes at the center of a trade war between the world’s top two economies. The negotiations will begin at Rosenbad, the Swedish prime minister’s office in central Stockholm, with Chinese and US national flags being raised at the building. China is facing an August 12 deadline to reach a durable tariff agreement with President Donald Trump’s administration, after Beijing and Washington reached preliminary deals in May and June to end weeks of escalating tit-for-tat tariffs and a cut-off of rare earth minerals. Without an agreement, global supply chains could face renewed turmoil from U.S. duties snapping back to triple-digit levels that would amount to a bilateral trade embargo.
The Stockholm talks come hot on the heels of Trump’s biggest trade deal yet with the European Union on Sunday for a 15% tariff on most EU goods exports to the U.S., including autos. No similar breakthrough is expected in the U.S.-China talks, but trade analysts said that another 90-day extension of a tariff and export control truce struck in mid-May was likely. An extension of that length would prevent further escalation and facilitate planning for a potential meeting between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in late October or early November.
