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United States Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced on Tuesday that he will meet with Chinese officials in Stockholm next week for a new round of high-level trade negotiations, as a key tariff deadline approaches.
Speaking to Fox Business, Bessent said the meetings are scheduled for Monday and Tuesday in the Swedish capital, and are expected to focus on extending a temporary agreement that has reduced tariffs between the two countries.
“That deal expires on August 12, and I'm going to be in Stockholm on Monday and Tuesday with my Chinese counterparts, and we'll be working out what is likely an extension then,” he said.
The current tariff reprieve stems from an agreement reached earlier this year in Geneva, where top officials from both sides agreed to temporarily lower previously imposed duties on each other’s exports. The truce came after months of escalating, retaliatory tariffs that reached triple-digit percentages, severely disrupting trade flows between the world’s two largest economies.
Unless an extension is agreed, tariffs are set to revert to higher levels on Aug. 12, threatening to reignite trade restrictions.
While Washington and Beijing are working toward an extension, Bessent indicated that other countries subject to U.S. tariffs may not be as fortunate. For economies facing an earlier deadline of Aug. 1, he said the higher duties are expected to return. However, he emphasized that negotiations with those nations will continue.
The planned talks in Stockholm will mark the third round of direct negotiations between U.S. and Chinese officials since the dispute began.
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