Delegations from the United States and China were set to continue their trade talks in Madrid on Monday, marking the second day of discussions over ongoing trade tensions and the looming September 17 deadline for Chinese tech giant ByteDance to divest its U.S. TikTok operations.
The latest round, the fourth in four months, took place at the baroque Palacio de Santa Cruz, which houses Spain’s foreign ministry, and concluded its first day on Sunday after about six hours with no indication of a breakthrough.
Talks focused on TikTok, tariffs, and broader economic issues, a U.S. official said, offering no further details. Delegations led by U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng have been meeting in European cities since May to resolve differences that sparked tariffs and retaliatory trade measures, including China’s temporary halt on rare-earth exports to the United States.
Last month in Stockholm, both sides agreed to extend a 90-day trade truce, which eased retaliatory tariffs and restarted rare-earth shipments.
Experts have low expectations of a major breakthrough in Madrid, with the likely outcome being another extension of the TikTok divestment deadline. “I’m not expecting anything substantive between the U.S. and China unless and until 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.
Reinsch added that China would likely push for further easing of U.S. export controls on chips and high-tech goods before agreeing to a Trump-Xi meeting. “This meeting is an opportunity to measure each other’s positions and to learn more about each side’s red lines,” he said.
China’s embassy in Madrid indicated a potential concluding news conference on Monday afternoon, suggesting the talks could end quickly, unlike previous discussions over more complex issues, which sometimes extended to a third day.
Bessent is scheduled to meet British Finance Minister Rachel Reeves in London on Tuesday ahead of President Trump’s state visit with King Charles starting Wednesday.
