Trade talks between the US and China are back on in Stockholm

July 28, 2025: Top economic officials from the US and China are meeting in Stockholm to continue important trade talks. The talks are meant to settle long-standing economic disagreements that have led to a trade war between the two biggest economies in the world. The main goal right now is to extend a temporary truce and avoid tariffs that are much higher.

The talks started this afternoon in Rosenbad, the Swedish prime minister’s office. The building had Chinese and American flags flying. China has until August 12 to make a long-term deal on tariffs with President Donald Trump’s government. Earlier agreements in May and June had given a short break from rising tariffs and problems with the supply of rare earth minerals. If there isn’t a new deal, global supply chains might become messed up again because U.S. levies could go back up to triple-digit levels, which would be like a trade embargo between the two countries.

Also Read: Russell Vought Blames Fed for “Mismanagement”

President Trump’s big trade deal with the European Union on Sunday set a 15% duty on most EU goods sent to the U.S., including cars. These meetings in Stockholm come just after that. Trade experts don’t expect the U.S.-China talks to lead to a similar breakthrough, but they do think that the present truce on tariffs and export controls, which was reached in mid-May, will likely be extended for another 90 days.

This kind of prolongation would stop things from getting worse and make it possible for President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping to meet in late October or early November. A representative for the U.S. Treasury would not comment on a South China Morning Post article that said both sides would agree not to impose further tariffs or take steps to escalate the situation for another 90 days.

Even though talks are still going on, the Trump administration is said to be ready to put fresh tariffs on some sectors of China’s economy in the next few weeks. These duties would affect things like semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, and ship-to-shore cranes. On Sunday, though, President Trump was still hopeful, saying, “We’re very close to a deal with China.” Before signing the EU accord, they said, “We really sort of made a deal with China, but we’ll see how that goes.”

The Financial Times said on Monday that the U.S. has temporarily stopped limiting tech exports to China to avoid slowing down trade talks and to help efforts to set up a summit between Trump and Xi this year. Reuters was unable to confirm this allegation right away, and the White House and Commerce Department did not respond to calls for comment outside of business hours.