In the wake of new tariffs, how are US-China trade talks going?

President Donald Trump has unveiled caller reciprocal tariffs connected imports from dozens of countries, ranging from 10 percent to 41 percent, forging up with his efforts to reshape planetary trade.

On Thursday, the White House issued a connection entitled “Further Modifying the Reciprocal Tariff Rates”, successful which immoderate 69 trading partners and their respective “adjusted” tariff rates were listed.

These are changes to import levies since the tariffs announced connected April 2 (and aboriginal paused until August 1), the time Donald Trump referred to arsenic “Liberation Day”. Rates person dropped for astir countries, but not all. Most of the caller tariffs volition spell into effect connected August 7.

Imports from astir 40 countries volition look a caller 15 percent complaint connected goods they export to the United States, portion different nations’ products volition beryllium deed with higher duties. The United Kingdom and Australia volition wage 10 percent.

One notable objection from Trump’s latest tariff database is China, the US’s third-largest trading partner. So, what’s the existent authorities of play betwixt the 2 countries?

How are US-China commercialized talks going?

Top officials from the US and China failed to hold connected extending a 90-day intermission connected tariffs connected Tuesday during the latest circular of talks held successful Stockholm, Sweden.

Any renewal of the pause, which is owed to expire connected August 12, volition yet beryllium up to Trump, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said.

The talks, which took spot successful Rosenbad, the spot of authorities wherever the Swedish premier minister’s bureau is located, were aimed astatine defusing a caller commercialized spat betwixt the world’s 2 biggest economies.

The latest meeting, which was attended by Bessent and Vice Premier He Lifeng for Beijing, concluded conscionable 2 days aft Trump announced a new commercialized woody with the European Union.

It was the 3rd gathering betwixt the US and China since April, astatine which constituent the 2 sides had slapped each different with tariffs exceeding 100 percent successful an escalating commercialized war.

On May 12, the 2 agreed a 90-day tariff pause successful Geneva, easing a costly logjam which had upended trade. During the pause, US tariffs person been reduced from 145 percent to 30 percent, and Chinese duties from 125 percent to 10 percent.

But without a caller trading statement successful place, planetary proviso chains could look renewed turmoil if US and Chinese tariffs restart astatine triple-digit levels that would magnitude to a bilateral commercialized embargo.

What happened astatine the Stockholm meeting?

After the meeting, China’s lawman commerce minister, Li Chenggang, said some sides were “fully alert of the value of safeguarding a unchangeable and dependable China-US commercialized and economical relationship”.

He told Chinese media that the 2 sides had held “candid and constructive exchanges”.

For his part, Bessent told reporters astatine a briefing connected Tuesday that the US had built momentum with caller US agreements with Japan and the EU. He remained sanguine astir China.

“Just to tamp down that rhetoric, the meetings were precise constructive. We conscionable haven’t fixed the motion off,” helium said.

Bessent stressed that “nothing is agreed until we talk with President Trump”.

The treasury caput and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer were owed to little Trump connected Wednesday astir the Stockholm discussions, helium added.

Bessent besides said that, fixed US secondary tariff legislation connected sanctioned Russian oil, China could look precocious tariffs if Beijing continued with its Russian lipid purchases. 

Similarly, the US precocious announced an unspecified punishment for India’s acquisition of Russian oil, connected apical of a 25 percent tariff connected Indian exports.

What are the cardinal issues successful the commercialized talks?

Technology exports, specifically chips utilized for artificial intelligence, are understood to person been astatine the centre of this week’s talks. In particular, US information officials person raised concerns that high-tech American semiconductor chips could beryllium utilized by China’s military.

In April, Trump was poised to artifact the export of Nvidia’s H20 chip, which has been designed to comply with Biden-era export curbs. But Trump reversed people pursuing nonstop appeals from Nvidia Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang.

In the run-up to this week’s talks, the UK’s Financial Times paper reported that Washington had frozen restrictions connected exertion income to China to easiness negotiations and to debar retaliation from Beijing successful the signifier of export restrictions connected uncommon world minerals, arsenic happened successful May.

Rare earths are a radical of 17 elements indispensable to galore manufacturing industries, from car parts to cleanable vigor exertion to subject hardware. They are besides a cardinal contented for commercialized talks.

China has agelong dominated the mining and processing of uncommon world minerals, arsenic good arsenic the accumulation of related components, similar uncommon world magnets.

China’s clasp implicit the manufacture has been a key interest for US commercialized representatives since Donald Trump’s instrumentality to the White House.

What was the authorities of US-China commercialized earlier the caller truce?

For years, Trump has criticised Beijing for what helium deems to beryllium unfair commercialized practices – namely, import quotas, authorities subsidies and taxation breaks. He has adjacent argued that the US’s commercialized shortage with China, which snowballed to $20 trillion betwixt 1974 and 2024, constitutes a national emergency.

When Trump paused reciprocal tariffs connected dozens of countries connected April 9, helium made an objection for China. Beijing, successful turn, retaliated with import levies of its own.

Tit-for-tat exchanges rapidly snowballed into eye-watering sums. By April 11, US tariffs connected Chinese goods had reached 145 percent, portion duties connected US products entering China had swelled to 125 percent.

Tensions were defused successful May, erstwhile Bessent and He Lifeng agreed to a truce which slashed respective tariffs by 115 percent points for 3 months.

For now, US duties connected Chinese products are acceptable astatine 30 percent portion China’s tariffs connected the US person dropped to 10 percent.

What volition hap next?

This week’s talks whitethorn pave the mode for a imaginable gathering betwixt Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping aboriginal successful the year, though connected Tuesday, Trump denied going retired of his mode to question one.

For Thomas Sampson, a prof of economics astatine the London School of Economics, a face-to-face gathering has “the imaginable to beryllium significant”. Equally though, it could beryllium “a grip-and-grin benignant summit, wherever thing substantive is discussed”, helium told Al Jazeera.

Sampson added that US-China negotiations are much analyzable than those with different Asian countries, owing to China’s grip connected uncommon world minerals, successful summation to the information that China “has agelong been a people of Trump’s”.

For now, Sampson said helium believes that the “mood astir the [Sweden] talks seems much affirmative than earlier this year. Both sides, it seems, person stepped backmost from the brink”. His anticipation is for a “more restrained commercialized war” than before, if 1 is to resume.

On Friday, White House property caput Karoline Leavitt said commercialized talks with China were “moving successful the close direction” and that Washington remains successful “direct communication” with Beijing.

What different commercialized deals has Trump concluded successful caller weeks?

On apical of Trump’s Thursday tariff blitz, the latest US-China talks travel aft Washington struck deals with some the EU and Japan past week.

Last Sunday, Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced a commercialized agreement, ending a months-long standoff betwixt 2 economical giants.

The EU accepted a 15 percent tariff connected astir of its exports, portion the bloc’s mean tariff complaint connected US goods volition driblet beneath 1 percent erstwhile the woody goes into effect.

Brussels besides said it would acquisition $750bn successful American vigor products and put $600bn much into the US, connected apical of existing commercialized agreements.

France’s Prime Minister Francois Bayrou said the EU had capitulated to Trump’s commercialized threats, labelling the woody struck connected Sunday arsenic a “dark day” for the EU.

Elsewhere, the US has besides struck tariff deals with South Korea, Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines.