Stockholm, Jul 29 (AP) China and the US have agreed to continue their tariff pauses on each other, China's top trade official said Tuesday in Stockholm, following a two-day meeting with US officials.

Speaking with the press, Li Chenggang said the two sides had “constructive” and “candid” discussions and agreed to keep the tariffs at current levels — the US taxing Chinese goods at 30 per cent and China collecting 10 per cent on US products.

Li also said the two sides had “comprehensive and in-depth” discussions on microeconomic issues, agreeing to keep close contact and “communicate with each other in a timely manner on trade and economic issues.” Chinese and US trade officials held their latest round of trade talks in the Swedish capital on Monday and Tuesday to try to break a logjam over tariffs that have skewed the pivotal commercial ties between the world's two largest economies.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is expected to speak with reporters later on Tuesday.

On the first day, the talks lasted nearly five hours behind closed doors at the Swedish prime minister's office Monday. Before the talks resumed Tuesday, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson met with Bessent and US trade representative Jamieson Greer over breakfast.

The United States has struck deals over tariffs with some of its key trading partners — including Britain, Japan and the European Union — since US President Donald Trump announced “Liberation Day” tariffs against dozens of countries in April. China remains perhaps the biggest unresolved case.

“The Chinese have been very pragmatic," Greer said in comments posted on social media by his office late Monday. “Obviously we've had a lot of tensions over the years. We have tensions now, but the fact that we are regularly meeting with them to address these issues gives us a good footing for these negotiations.” “Whether there will be a deal or not, I can't say,” Greer added in the clip posted on X from MSNBC's “Morning Joe”. "Whether there's room for an extension, I can't say at this point. But the conversations are constructive and they're going in the right direction.” Many analysts expect that the Stockholm talks, at a minimum, will result in an extension of current tariff levels that are far lower than the triple-digit percentage rates as the US-China tariff tiff crescendoed in April, sending world markets into a temporary tailspin.

The two sides backed off the brink during bilateral talks in Geneva in May and agreed to a 90-day pause — which is set to end on Aug 12 — of those sky-high levels. They currently stand at US tariffs of 30 per cent on Chinese goods, and China's 10 per cent tariff on US products.

Other issues on the agenda include access of American businesses to the Chinese market; Chinese investment in the US; components of fentanyl made in China that reach US consumers; Chinese purchases of Russian and Iranian oil; and American steps to limit exports of Western technology, like chips that help power artificial intelligence systems.

The Stockholm meetings could also provide some clarity about the prospects for a summit to be held later this year between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, seen by some as a crucial step to lock in any major agreements between their two countries.

On his Truth Social media platform, Trump insisted late Monday that he was not “seeking” a summit with Xi, but may go to China at the Chinese leader's invitation, “which has been extended. Otherwise, no interest!” While the Chinese side has offered few specifics of its aims in Stockholm, Bessent has suggested that the situation has stabilised to the point that China and the US can start looking toward longer-term balance between their economies.

Since China vaulted into the global trading system about two decades ago, the United States has sought to press leaders in Beijing to encourage more consumption in China and offer greater market access to foreign-made — including American — goods.

Wendy Cutler, a former US trade negotiator and now vice president at the Asia Society Policy Institute, said that Trump's team would face challenges from “a large and confident partner that is more than willing to retaliate against U.S. interests.” Rollover of tariff rates “should be the easy part,” she said, warning that Beijing has learned lessons since the first Trump administration and “will not buy into a one-sided deal this time around.” On Monday, police cordoned off a security zone along Stockholm's vast waterfront as rubbernecking tourists and locals sought a glimpse of the top-tier officials through a phalanx of TV news cameras lined up behind metal barriers.

Flagpoles at the prime minister's office were festooned with the American and Chinese flags. (AP) RD RD

Tariff pause maintained as bilateral talks preserve a provisional moratorium and open continued negotiations on market access and controls. China and the United States agreed in Stockholm to retain their mutual tariff pauses as a provisional stabilization measure, maintaining current applied duties while committing to close communication and follow up engagement. Talks covered broader commercial issues-market access, investment, export controls, supply chain components, and precursor chemicals-and signalled working level mechanisms to address sectoral frictions without committing to specific concessions. The pause is intended to prevent immediate tariff escalation and provide a window for negotiating longer term arrangements.