Madrid, September 16: U.S. and Chinese officials wrapped up the first day of talks in Madrid on Sunday, seeking to steady strained trade relations as a deadline for Chinese firm ByteDance to divest its TikTok U.S. operations draws near.
The delegations, led by U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng with top trade negotiator Li Chenggang, met for about six hours at Spain’s baroque Palacio de Santa Cruz, which houses the foreign ministry. “We’ll start again in the morning,” Bessent told reporters as he left.
The Madrid meeting marks the fourth such round of talks in four months, following sessions in Geneva, London and Stockholm, aimed at containing tensions that have escalated under President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs on Chinese imports. Trump has extended current tariff rates, averaging about 55%, until Nov. 10.
Analysts say little substantive progress is expected, with the most likely outcome being another extension of TikTok’s Sept. 17 divestiture deadline. It would be the fourth extension since Trump took office. The app’s fate was formally placed on the talks’ agenda for the first time, a move observers say gives the administration political cover for further delays.
Trade experts suggested that significant agreements may be saved for a possible Trump-Xi Jinping meeting later this year, potentially at the APEC summit in Seoul in October. Such a summit could tackle bigger issues, including easing U.S. export controls, lifting restrictions on Chinese purchases of soybeans, and scaling back fentanyl-related tariffs.
Washington is also pressing allies to impose tariffs on imports from China and India over their purchases of Russian oil, part of its broader strategy to reduce Moscow’s revenues from the war in Ukraine. The U.S. has already slapped an extra 25% tariff on Indian goods but has so far held off on similar measures against China.
The talks are set to resume Monday morning, with both sides expected to hold press briefings in the afternoon.
