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Bessent is slated to meet Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in
Madrid to discuss national security and economic issues, a
Treasury news release states.
This will be the fourth round of discussions between U.S. and
Chinese counterparts after meetings in London, Geneva and
Stockholm. The two governments have agreed to several 90-day
pauses on a series of increasing reciprocal tariffs, staving off
an all-out trade war.
During the last round of discussions in Stockholm, Bessent
described his talks with the Chinese as “ very fulsome."
“We just need to de-risk with certain, strategic industries,
whether it’s the rare earths, semiconductors, medicines, and we
talked about what we could do together to get into balance
within the relationship,” Bessent said at the time.
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, such as Britain, Japan
and the European Union.
The U.S. and China delegations are also expected to continue
discussions about ownership of TikTok.
Congress approved a U.S. ban on the popular video-sharing
platform unless its parent company, ByteDance, sold its
controlling stake. President Donald Trump said last month that
he will keep extending the sale deadline until there’s a buyer.
But Trump has so far extended the deadline three times during
his second term — with the next deadline coming up Wednesday.
A Pew Research Center survey conducted in late February and
early March found that about one-third of Americans said they
supported a TikTok ban, down from 50% in March 2023. Roughly
one-third said they would oppose a ban, and a similar percentage
said they weren’t sure.
The Treasury Department also says Bessent will meet Spanish
government counterparts to discuss the relationship between
Spain and the United States.
After his Spain trip, Bessent is expected to travel to the U.K.
to join Trump for his official state visit with Britain’s King
Charles at Windsor Castle.
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