China tariff deadline can be rolled forward 90 days: US Treasury chief

WASHINGTON: A deadline for tariffs between the United States and China to snap back to higher levels could be extended in a “90-day increment,” US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Wednesday, ahead of trade talks next week.

Top officials from the world’s two biggest economies are set to meet in Sweden on Monday and Tuesday, with Bessent in the US delegation and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng attending the talks.

“We’re in a very good place with China now,” Bessent told Bloomberg Television on Wednesday. He added that the upcoming talks would likely move beyond rare earths and export controls, and “on to bigger discussions.”

Asked about the August 12 deadline, when reduced tit-for-tat tariffs are due to bounce back to steeper levels, Bessent signaled openness to a significant extension.

“I think that we could roll it forward, maybe in a 90-day increment,” he said in the interview.

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“Both sides have de-escalated, and I think we can get into a very good cadence of regular meetings with them,” he said.

Washington and Beijing had slapped escalating tariffs on each other’s exports in April, reaching prohibitive triple-digit levels, but both sides reached an agreement to temporarily lower them after negotiations in Geneva.

The truce, however, is set to expire in August.

Officials from the two countries also met in London in June.

On Wednesday, Bessent said he expected the upcoming discussions could include talks on Chinese purchases of Russian and Iranian oil, alongside security issues.

He said both countries would also discuss “purchasing agreements,” especially on agriculture.

Trade talks between the United States and China had initially stalled after their Geneva meeting, with Washington accusing Beijing of violating their pact and slow-walking export license approvals for rare earths.

But the countries have since agreed to move forward on a framework to implement their consensus.

Asked about a potential meeting between President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, Bessent said he did not expect anything before September and had no further information on this front.

Regarding China’s placing of an exit ban on a US government employee, Bessent said that issue could be on the agenda, but that he did not see the move as an attempt to gain leverage with Washington.