After a “constructive” round of talks ahead of an Aug. 12 deadline, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said “nothing is agreed until we speak with President Trump.”

The United States and China are poised to start a fresh round of talks in Sweden, aiming to extend a temporary trade truce that held back triple-digit tariffs while the world’s two biggest economies try to broker a lasting deal.

Beijing continues to defy U.S. sanctions as the leading importer of Iranian oil and the second-largest buyer of Russian crude, much of which is funneled through a growing fleet of untracked "ghost ships.

Tariffs are rising sharply in 2025, with the US rates jumping to 13.3%—the highest since 1939—fueling global uncertainty and triggering a projected $2 trillion hit to global GDP by 2027.

The Stockholm meeting — following similar talks in Geneva and London in recent months — is set to extend a 90-day pause on those tariffs. During the pause, U.S. tariffs were lowered to 30% on Chinese goods, and China set a 10% tariff on U.S. products.