Containerships moored at the Qingdao Port in Qingdao, China, on July 10. (Bloomberg)
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STOCKHOLM — China and the U.S. have agreed to continue their tariff pauses on each other, China’s top trade official said July 29 in Stockholm, following a two-day meeting with U.S. officials.
Speaking with the press, Li Chenggang said the two sides had “constructive” and “candid” discussions and agreed to keep the tariffs at current levels — the U.S. taxing Chinese goods at 30% and China collecting 10% on U.S. products.
Li also said the two sides had “comprehensive and in-depth” discussions on microeconomic issues, agreeing to keep close contact and “communicate with each other in a timely manner on trade and economic issues.”
Chinese and U.S. trade officials held their latest round of trade talks in the Swedish capital July 28-29 to try to break a logjam over tariffs that have skewed the pivotal commercial ties between the world’s two largest economies.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is expected to speak with reporters later July 29.
On the first day, the talks lasted nearly five hours behind closed doors at the Swedish prime minister’s office July 28. Before the talks resumed July 29, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson met with Bessent and U.S. trade representative Jamieson Greer over breakfast.
The United States has struck deals over tariffs with some of its key trading partners — including Britain, Japan and the European Union — since President Donald Trump announced “Liberation Day” tariffs against dozens of countries in April. China remains perhaps the biggest unresolved case.
“The Chinese have been very pragmatic,” Greer said in comments posted on social media by his office late July 28. “Obviously we’ve had a lot of tensions over the years. We have tensions now, but the fact that we are regularly meeting with them to address these issues gives us a good footing for these negotiations.”
“Whether there will be a deal or not, I can’t say,” Greer added in the clip posted on X from MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” “Whether there’s room for an extension, I can’t say at this point. But the conversations are constructive and they’re going in the right direction.”
Many analysts expect that the Stockholm talks, at a minimum, will result in an extension of current tariff levels that are far lower than the triple-digit percentage rates as the U.S.-China tariff tiff crescendoed in April, sending world markets into a temporary tailspin.
The two sides backed off the brink during bilateral talks in Geneva in May and agreed to a 90-day pause — which is set to end on Aug. 12 — of those sky-high levels. They currently stand at U.S. tariffs of 30% on Chinese goods, and China’s 10% tariff on U.S. products.
Other issues on the agenda include access of American businesses to the Chinese market; Chinese investment in the U.S.; components of fentanyl made in China that reach U.S. consumers; Chinese purchases of Russian and Iranian oil; and American steps to limit exports of Western technology, like chips that help power artificial intelligence systems.
The Stockholm meetings could also provide some clarity about the prospects for a summit to be held later this year between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, seen by some as a crucial step to lock in any major agreements between their two countries.
The Fake News is reporting that I am SEEKING a “Summit” with President Xi of China. This is not correct, I am not SEEKING anything! I may go to China, but it would only be at the invitation of President Xi, which has been extended. Otherwise, no interest! Thank you for your…
— Trump Truth Social Posts On X (@TrumpTruthOnX) July 29, 2025
On his Truth Social media platform, Trump insisted late July 28 that he was not “seeking” a summit with Xi, but may go to China at the Chinese leader’s invitation, “which has been extended. Otherwise, no interest!”
While the Chinese side has offered few specifics of its aims in Stockholm, Bessent has suggested that the situation has stabilized to the point that China and the U.S. can start looking toward longer-term balance between their economies.
Since China vaulted into the global trading system about two decades ago, the United States has sought to press leaders in Beijing to encourage more consumption in China and offer greater market access to foreign-made — including American — goods.
Wendy Cutler, a former U.S. trade negotiator and now vice president at the Asia Society Policy Institute, said that Trump’s team would face challenges from “a large and confident partner that is more than willing to retaliate against U.S. interests.”
Rollover of tariff rates “should be the easy part,” she said, warning that Beijing has learned lessons since the first Trump administration and “will not buy into a one-sided deal this time around.”
On July 28, police cordoned off a security zone along Stockholm’s vast waterfront as rubbernecking tourists and locals sought a glimpse of the top-tier officials through a phalanx of TV news cameras lined up behind metal barriers.
Flagpoles at the prime minister’s office were festooned with the American and Chinese flags.