U.S. and Chinese delegations are continuing their trade talks in Madrid into a second day, focusing on tensions over tariffs, the economy, and the impending deadline for Chinese divestment from TikTok in the United States.
The fourth round of negotiations in four months took place at Madrid’s Palacio de Santa Cruz, home to Spain’s foreign ministry, and concluded its first day on Sunday after about six hours with no indication of a major breakthrough, News.Az reports, citing Reuters.
“Talks centered on TikTok, tariffs, and the economy,” a U.S. government official said, without providing further details.
The delegations are led by U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, who have met in European cities since May to resolve disputes that began after President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on Chinese imports, prompting retaliatory measures including high import duties and restrictions on rare-earth exports to the U.S.
In July, the delegations met in Stockholm, agreeing to a 90-day trade truce that eased triple-digit retaliatory tariffs and restarted Chinese rare-earth exports to the U.S.
Experts have low expectations for a major breakthrough in Madrid, with the most likely outcome being an extension of the September 17 deadline for ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese owner, to divest its U.S. operations or face a potential shutdown.
“I’m not expecting anything substantive unless there is a one-on-one meeting between Trump and Xi. Setting that up is really what these talks are all about,” said William Reinsch, senior trade adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
China’s embassy in Madrid has indicated that a concluding news conference could be held Monday afternoon, suggesting that the talks may wrap up quickly. Previous negotiations on more complex issues, such as rare-earth exports in London, have sometimes extended to a third day.
Following the talks, Bessent is scheduled to meet UK Finance Minister Rachel Reeves in London ahead of Trump’s state visit with King Charles starting Wednesday.
