WASHINGTON – The Trump administration and Chinese officials appear to be moving toward extending a 90-day tariff truce the two sides struck in May, but President Donald Trump still has not signed off on it.
Momentum to extend the truce, in which both countries held off on imposing massive, triple-digit tariffs on imports on one another, came as a result of two days of U.S.-China talks in Stockholm.
“We’re going to talk to the president about whether that’s something that he wants to do,” U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, Trump’s top trade official, told reporters in Stockholm. “It’s certainly something that’s been under discussion.”
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Trump expressed optimism about the latest round of discussions between his economic team and Chinese officials as he returned to the White House from Scotland aboard Air Force One.
“They’re going to brief me tomorrow. We’ll either approve it or not,” Trump said, referring to an extension of the truce.
China’s top trade negotiator Li Chenggang said that both countries agreed to push for an extension of the trade truce, without specifying when or for how long.
In May, the Trump administration and China agreed to slash tariffs for 90 days in a push to de-escalate a trade war between the world’s two largest economies while the two sides continued to negotiate a long-term agreement. However, a long-term deal between the United States and China still hasn’t come together ahead of an Aug. 1 deadline when Trump was preparing to impose higher tariffs on goods from nearly 180 countries.
Under the truce in May, the United States reduced 125% reciprocal tariffs imposed on Chinese imports by 115% to a 10% baseline tariff, which matches the tariffs the Trump administration imposed on other countries. Trump’s 20% tariffs slapped on China over fentanyl production remained in effect, meaning the U.S. tariffs on China totaled 30% overall.
In turn, the Chinese government agreed to reduce its retaliatory tariffs on U.S. exports for 90 days from 125% to 10%.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who participated in the trade talks in Stockholm, said he believes the Chinese were “surprised” by the magnitude of Trump’s recently announced trade deals with Japan and the European Union.
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“They’re never compliant, but I think they were in more of a mood for a wide-ranging discussion,” Bessent said, calling the tone of the talks “constructive.”
Bessent said Trump’s team conveyed the need for the United States to improve the trade balance with China in areas such as rare earth minerals, semiconductors and medicines.
“We reiterated to them: We don’t want to decouple. We just need to de-risk with certain industries,” Bessent said.
Reach Joey Garrison on X @joeygarrison.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump, China trade talks get close to an extension on tariff truce
