US, China extend tariff pause after trade dialogue ends in Stockholm

Both sides held ‘constructive and candid discussions’ and agreed to keep tariffs at their existing rates—30 per cent (55 per cent overall) on Chinese goods entering the United States, and 10 per cent on US products exported to China, Chinese vice minister of commerce Li Chenggang told reporters.

Both sides agreed to a 90-day pause in Geneva in May this year, preventing a further escalation. That pause will expire on August 12.

Both countries had ‘comprehensive and in-depth discussions on microeconomic issues’ and had decided to stay in regular contact to discuss trade and economic matters, Li was cited as saying by global media reports.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson hosted a breakfast meeting with US treasury secretary Scott Bessent and US trade representative Jamieson Greer.

“The Chinese have been very pragmatic," Greer posted on social media. "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," he wrote.

"Whether there will be a deal or not, I can't say. 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,” he said in a TV interview clip posted on X.

The Stockholm meetings didn't offer any clarity about the prospects for a summit later this year between Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping, the reports added.

ALCHEMPro News Desk (DS)