Bessent, Greer Say Trump Has Final Say on China Tariff Truce

Anna Ashton, former Defense Department China analyst, reacts to headlines out of trade meetings between treasury secretary Scott Bessent and USTR Jamieson Greer. She says China has the upper hand in negotiations with the US over export controls on rare earths and that's likely to continue.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that the US and China will continue talks over maintaining a tariff truce before it expires in two weeks and that President Donald Trump will make the final call on any extension.

Bessent, who led the US delegation with Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, said in Stockholm that he’ll brief Trump on Wednesday on the remaining issues.

“There’s still a couple of technical details to work out,” Bessent told reporters Tuesday, after two days of meetings with officials from Beijing led by Vice Premier He Lifeng.

On the heels of Washington’s preliminary tariff deals with Japan and the European Union, Bessent said his Chinese counterparts were “more of a mood for a wide-ranging discussion.”

The third round of US-China trade talks in less than three months wrapped up ahead of an Aug. 12 deadline to resolve differences during a 90-day suspension of sky-high tariffs that threatened to cut off bilateral trade between the world’s largest economies.

Adding an extra 90 days is one option, Bessent said.

Chinese trade negotiator Li Chenggang told reporters that both sides agree on maintaining the truce, without elaborating on how long. He added that the conversations in the Swedish capital were candid, in-depth and geared for continued close communication.

Magnet Talks

At issue in the ongoing dialog is how the two countries seek to maintain a stable trading relationship while applying barriers like tariffs and export controls to limit each other’s progress in critical sectors ranging from battery technology and defense to semiconductors.

Greer said the US wants assurances that critical materials like magnets keep flowing so the two sides can focus on other priorities. “We don’t ever want to talk about magnets again,” he said.

Greer said the resumption of China’s rare earths exports is Beijing’s biggest concession so far. Asked if the US made any commitments to China on its pending 232 investigations, Greer said China asked for status updates on them, but stressed that the eventual duties would be applied globally and not have any exemptions for particular countries.

He also said China asked about the Trump administration’s so-called 232 investigations into sectors such as copper, semiconductors and pharmaceuticals, and the US explained that those involve global tariffs with no exceptions for individual countries.

Reducing the 20% tariffs that Trump imposed over US claims that Chinese companies supply chemicals used to make the illegal drug fentanyl is also a high priority for Beijing, Eurasia Group analysts wrote in a note last week.

The sticking points in the relationship extend beyond cross-border commerce. Earlier, Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te appeared to call off an overseas trip planned for next week after the Trump administration failed to approve his stopover in the US.

Trade tensions have risen recently as both sides try to apply industrial leverage. China has recently exerted its dominance in rare earth minerals for concessions from the US on advanced chips needed for Beijing’s ambitions in artificial intelligence.

--------

Watch Bloomberg Radio LIVE on YouTube

Weekdays 7am-6pm ET

Follow us on X

Subscribe to our Podcasts:

Bloomberg Daybreak

Bloomberg Surveillance

Bloomberg Intelligence

Balance of Power

Bloomberg Businessweek

Listen on Apple CarPlay and Android Auto with the Bloomberg Business app:

Apple CarPlay

Android Auto

Visit our YouTube channels:

Bloomberg Podcasts

Bloomberg Television

Bloomberg Originals