Madrid, Spain – U.S. and Chinese officials concluded the first day of critical trade talks in Madrid on Sunday, as both sides navigate escalating tensions over tariffs, technology restrictions, and the looming U.S. divestiture deadline for TikTok, the popular short-video app owned by China’s ByteDance.
The discussions, held at the historic Palacio de Santa Cruz, Spain’s foreign ministry headquarters, lasted approximately six hours and marked the fourth round of bilateral trade talks in as many months.
TikTok Deadline Extension Likely as Trade Talks Continue
A key focus of the Madrid talks is the September 17 deadline for ByteDance to divest TikTok’s U.S. operations or face a nationwide ban. While TikTok has not been formally discussed in previous rounds of trade negotiations—in Geneva, London, or Stockholm—its inclusion in the official U.S. Treasury agenda suggests a political opening for another extension.
According to informed sources, the Trump administration is expected to extend the divestiture deadline for the fourth time, providing ByteDance with temporary breathing room amid ongoing uncertainty. They also indicated that the Madrid meeting is unlikely to yield significant breakthroughs.
Tariffs, Export Controls, and Rare Earths
The talks come as President Trump recently approved an extension of U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods—totaling approximately 55%—until November 10. The two countries had previously agreed in July during the Stockholm round to a 90-day trade truce, which included a significant reduction in retaliatory tariffs and the resumption of rare-earth mineral exports from China to the U.S.
Wendy Cutler, a former U.S. trade negotiator and Vice President of the Asia Society Policy Institute, suggested that more substantial agreements—including a final TikTok resolution, the lifting of restrictions on Chinese soybean purchases, and a rollback of fentanyl-related tariffs—may be reserved for a potential Trump-Xi meeting at the APEC Summit in Seoul this October.
15 Sep, 2025
