Xiaofei Xu,,Frank ChenandRalph Jennings

China and the United States have diverged on the timing for another pause on tariff increases, a hurdle that must be cleared before the world’s two largest economies reach a trade deal ahead of an August 12 deadline.

After their two days of talks in Stockholm, Sweden, Chinese negotiators declared a consensus for an extension of the pause on tariff increases, while the American side insisted that no deal would be final without US PresidentDonald Trump’s explicit approval.

The Chinese side did not announce any breakthroughs or specify the duration of the extension after the discussions, which marked a third round of high-level trade negotiations between the two countries.

“According to the consensus between China and the US, both sides will continue to push for the continued extension of the pause on the 24 per cent part of the reciprocal tariffs on the US side as well as the countermeasures on the Chinese side,” Li Chenggang, China’s vice-minister of commerce, said after the negotiations concluded on Tuesday.

In a separate briefing held about an hour later, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent described the talks as “constructive” and “wide-ranging”, but denied that any agreement had been completed.

He said that nothing would be agreed upon until American negotiators spoke with Trump, now returning to the US from Scotland, where he had opened a new golf course at his Aberdeenshire resort.

“I notice … that the Chinese deputy minister did say that we had agreed on a pause,” Bessent said.