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- U.S. and Chinese delegations resumed trade negotiations in Madrid, with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer meeting with China’s Vice Premier He Lifeng and top trade negotiator Li Chenggang.
- This is the fourth round of these high-level talks in about four months. Previous rounds were in cities such as Geneva, London, and Stockholm.
- Key issues being discussed include:
- TikTok’s future in the U.S., specifically a deadline (September 17) for ByteDance (its Chinese owner) to divest from its U.S. operations or face being shut down.
- Tariffs and trade restrictions, especially U.S. export control measures.
- Broader economic tensions such as trade disincentives, rare earth exports, overproduction / industrial capacity issues, and trade-relations linked to national security.
⚠️ Key Tensions / Constraints
- The TikTok deadline is looming, but many analysts expect this round of talks will result in another extension rather than a full resolution.
- China is pushing for trade concessions, especially around tariffs and export controls. But the U.S. is cautious, particularly over national security concerns and preserving leverage.
- Real breakthroughs seem unlikely unless there is a face-to-face meeting between Presidents Trump and Xi Jinping, which may be needed to settle the major outstanding issues.
🔍 What Might Come Out of This
- Probably an extension of the TikTok divestment deadline.
- Some easing or clarification on technical export control measures, perhaps less restrictive in certain sectors, but major shifts are unlikely without wider concessions.
- Possibly commitments from China regarding purchases of U.S. products (soybeans, etc.) or rare earths export, as these have been recurring talking points.
- If both sides see value, this could help preserve the current fragile trade truce — which has been extended before — and avoid escalation.
If you like, I can put together a timeline of all these recent rounds of U.S.-China trade talks, so we can see how we got here and what precedent suggests might happen next.
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