High-level U.S.-China trade talks will resume on the 14th (local time) in Madrid, Spain. Long-standing flashpoints such as the high tariffs imposed by the Donald Trump administration and the deadline to sell the Chinese short-video platform "TikTok" are expected to be on the table. With the United States toying with the idea of imposing a tariff on China for purchasing Russian crude oil, the talks are poised to be a watershed not only for U.S.-China relations but also for the direction of sanctions on Russia.
Reuters and others reported that day that Scott Bessent, the U.S. Treasury secretary, and Jamieson Greer, the head of the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), will meet Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in Madrid to discuss trade issues. It will be the first time in four months the three will put their heads together in Europe. transfer, they held talks in Geneva, Switzerland; London, United Kingdom; and Stockholm, Sweden.
The biggest focus of this round is whether to extend the deadline to sell TikTok's U.S. business unit, which is approaching on the 17th. Citing national security, the Trump administration has pressured ByteDance, TikTok's Chinese parent company, to sell its U.S. operations. However, pointing to Trump opening a TikTok account last month and other conciliatory gestures, experts said a fourth extension of the deadline is highly likely.
But aside from TikTok, the remaining trade disputes still look hard to resolve this time. The United States has extended its roughly 55% high tariffs on China through Nov. 10. At the Stockholm talks in Jul., the two countries agreed to a "90-day truce," appearing to take a brief breather, but the fundamental sources of conflict remain.
The United States is poised to press China even harder in these talks by leveraging the war in Ukraine. Treasury Secretary Bessent urged at the Group of Seven (G7) finance ministers' meeting that "meaningful tariffs" be imposed on China and India, which continue to buy Russian crude. The plan is to block crude exports, Russia's biggest cash cow, and drag President Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table. The United States is already slapping an additional 25% tariff on Indian products.
China, for its part, is not backing down, saying it will directly raise the issue of the U.S. tariff policy and abuse of export controls. China's Ministry of Commerce signaled it will focus on these issues at the Madrid talks.
Experts said a dramatic breakthrough is unlikely in the Madrid talks. Wendy Cutler, former USTR negotiator, told Reuters, "China will not rush into a deal unless it secures tangible concessions such as easing export controls or lowering tariffs," adding, "The United States also finds it hard to make concessions without a breakthrough on core demands such as a shift in China's economic model."
Some analysts said these talks largely serve as early groundwork for a likely summit between President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders' meeting to be held in Gyeongju from the 31st of next month. Spain, which arranged this round, is calculating that it can broaden its diplomatic reach by playing mediator between Washington and Beijing.