Sweden will host the latest round of talks between Washington and Beijing

U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent announced in an interview on the local time of the 22nd that the third round of China-U.S. trade negotiations will be held in Stockholm, Sweden on next Monday and Tuesday. Prior to this, the two sides held two talks in Geneva and London. It is reported that August 12 is the deadline for China and the U.S. to suspend the imposition of additional tariffs, and the latest round of negotiations aims to postpone this deadline.

When talking about the new round of Sino-U.S. tariff negotiations in an interview on the 21st, Bessent said that the two sides may discuss the issue of China’s purchase of oil from Russia and Iran. He claimed, “I think the current trade situation between the U.S. and China is good, and now we can start talking about other issues. Unfortunately, China… is a major buyer of sanctioned Iranian and Russian oil.”

In response to this, a spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated at a regular press conference on the 22nd that China’s position on the tariff issue is consistent and clear. It is hoped that the U.S. side will work with China to implement the important consensus reached in the phone call between the two heads of state, give play to the role of the China-U.S. economic and trade consultation mechanism, enhance consensus, reduce misunderstandings and strengthen cooperation through dialogue and communication, so as to promote the stable, healthy and sustainable development of Sino-U.S. relations.

An expert on U.S. issues from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences said that if Bessent uses this issue to put pressure on China, it is likely to lead to the risk of collapse of the newly established trade consultation mechanism. The U.S. attempt to use trade negotiations as a geopolitical tool to force China to adapt to the U.S. geopolitical stance is completely contrary to the original intention of the two countries in establishing the consultation mechanism. Since there are not many options for directly confronting Russia, the U.S. is trying to put pressure on other countries to ask them to help strangle the Russian economy. “At least China will not fall for this trick.”