China promises to help companies slammed by tariffs, as talks with the
US left in limbo
[July 31, 2025] By
ELAINE KURTENBACH
BANGKOK (AP) — China’s top leaders have pledged to help companies
slammed by higher U.S. tariffs but held back on major moves after trade
talks with the U.S. this week kept businesses and planners in limbo.
At their summer economic planning meeting, the powerful Politburo of the
ruling Communist Party pledged to stabilize foreign trade and
investment.
“We must assist foreign trade enterprises that have been severely
impacted, strengthen financing support, and promote the integrated
development of domestic and foreign trade,” the official Xinhua News
Agency said in reporting the closed door meeting. It mentioned export
tax rebates and free trade pilot zones but gave no other specifics.
The inconclusive outcome of two days of trade talks in Stockholm,
Sweden, leaves open the question of higher tariffs on Chinese exports to
the United States.
Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng said the two sides had agreed to work on
extending a deadline for higher tariffs. The U.S. side said the
extension was discussed, but not decided.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told reporters after the talks
that President Donald Trump would decide whether to extend the Aug. 12
deadline for reaching an agreement or to let tariffs that have been
paused for 90 days to “boomerang” back to a higher level.
“We haven't given the sign-off,” Bessent said, though he emphasized that
the talks had been “very constructive.”
China remains one of the biggest challenges for the Trump administration
after it has struck deals over elevated tariff rates with other key
trading partners — including Britain, Japan and the European Union.
Many analysts had expected that the Stockholm talks would result in an
extension of current tariff levels, which currently stand at a U.S.
tariff of 30% on Chinese goods and a Chinese tariff of 10% on U.S.
products, far lower than the triple-digit percentage rates raised in
April.
The truce in the tariffs war to allow time for talks, agreed on in early
May to allow time for negotiations, allowed exporters and other traders
to ramp up shipments in hopes of beating any higher tariffs that might
follow.
The meeting headed by Chinese leader Xi Jinping mostly reiterated
Beijing's priorities for the year, including a need to “unleash domestic
demand” which has lagged, leading to a surge of exports by industries
unable to find growth at home. It also stressed the need to promote jobs
and prevent a “large scale relapse into poverty.”
[to top of second column] |
Zhao Leji, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National
People's Congress of China, leaves during the Sixth World Conference
of Speakers of Parliament, at the European headquarters of the
United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, Tuesday, July 29, 2025.
(Salvatore Di Nolfi/Keystone via AP)
 The economy “has demonstrated strong
vitality and resilience,” the Xinhua report said. But it
acknowledged many risks and challenges. That includes reining in
brutal competition that has led to damaging price wars among
automakers and some other manufacturers and managing excess capacity
in some industries, it said.
China's economy expanded at a 5.2% annual pace in April-June,
slowing slightly from the previous quarter. But analysts have said
actual growth may have been significantly slower.
Even with the hiatus in higher tariffs, companies are feeling a
pinch. Industrial profits in China fell 1.8% in the first half of
the year and 4.3% in June, according to data released earlier this
week.
It's unclear what level of tariffs might eventually be imposed on
Chinese exports to the United States.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said Thursday that
Beijing hopes the U.S. side would follow through on the “important
consensus” reached between Trump and Xi in a phone call to promote
stable relations between the world's two largest economies.
But Guo reiterated China's stance on its U.S. objections to its
purchases of oil and gas from Russia, which Bessent raised during
the talks in Stockholm, threatening more tariffs.
“China will take reasonable measures to ensure energy security in
accordance with its national interests,” Guo said. “There are no
winners in a tariff war. Coercion and pressure will not solve the
problem. China will resolutely safeguard its sovereignty, security
and development interests.”
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