New round of US-China talks head into second day focused on trade, TikTok
The United States (US) and Chinese representatives discussed TikTok, trade and the economy during a day of high-level talks in Madrid, Bloomberg reported on Sunday.
The Chinese delegation is in Madrid, Spain, until Wednesday, and senior officials, including Vice Premier He Lifeng, will meet with the US delegation led by US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.
Officials were also expected to lay the groundwork for a potential meeting between US President Donald Trump and China’s leader Xi Jinping as soon as October, when they’re scheduled to attend a summit in South Korea.
Market reaction
At the time of writing, the AUD/USD pair is trading 0.06% higher on the day to trade at 0.6653.
US-China Trade War FAQs
Generally speaking, a trade war is an economic conflict between two or more countries due to extreme protectionism on one end. It implies the creation of trade barriers, such as tariffs, which result in counter-barriers, escalating import costs, and hence the cost of living.
An economic conflict between the United States (US) and China began early in 2018, when President Donald Trump set trade barriers on China, claiming unfair commercial practices and intellectual property theft from the Asian giant. China took retaliatory action, imposing tariffs on multiple US goods, such as automobiles and soybeans. Tensions escalated until the two countries signed the US-China Phase One trade deal in January 2020. The agreement required structural reforms and other changes to China’s economic and trade regime and pretended to restore stability and trust between the two nations. However, the Coronavirus pandemic took the focus out of the conflict. Yet, it is worth mentioning that President Joe Biden, who took office after Trump, kept tariffs in place and even added some additional levies.
The return of Donald Trump to the White House as the 47th US President has sparked a fresh wave of tensions between the two countries. During the 2024 election campaign, Trump pledged to impose 60% tariffs on China once he returned to office, which he did on January 20, 2025. With Trump back, the US-China trade war is meant to resume where it was left, with tit-for-tat policies affecting the global economic landscape amid disruptions in global supply chains, resulting in a reduction in spending, particularly investment, and directly feeding into the Consumer Price Index inflation.
Author
Lallalit Srijandorn
FXStreet
Lallalit Srijandorn is a Parisian at heart. She has lived in France since 2019 and now becomes a digital entrepreneur based in Paris and Bangkok.
