U.S. and Chinese officials are holding a second day of trade talks in Spain as the deadline for the Chinese owner of TikTok to find a buyer or face a U.S. ban approaches.
The negotiations are being led by U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng and are intended to build on progress from earlier meetings as both sides seek to head off an escalating trade conflict between the world’s two largest economies. The talks come with a tariff truce already in place and growing expectations that the deadline for ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, will be extended for a fourth time.
TikTok’s U.S. future has become a central element of the discussions. The app, which has about 170 million users in the United States, faces a Wednesday deadline to secure a sale of its U.S. operations or face a ban under an order tied to national security concerns. President Trump, who initially called for the app to be banned during his first term, has delayed enforcement three times and signaled he might extend the timetable again. Speaking to reporters on Sunday, Trump said, "We may let [TikTok] die. Or we may… I don't know. It depends. Up to China, it doesn't matter too much." Last month he also said he might keep extending the deadline until a buyer is found and described national security and privacy concerns related to ByteDance as "highly overrated." The BBC has contacted the White House and TikTok for comment.
Officials on both sides are also expected to use the Spain meetings to lay groundwork for a potential summit between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, possibly as soon as October when both leaders are scheduled to attend a regional summit in South Korea. U.S. and Chinese top-level delegations last met in Sweden in July, where they agreed to extend a tariff truce by 90 days.
The truce has reduced the immediate threat of retaliatory levies that at one point exceeded 100% on each other's goods, providing time to negotiate over what the White House described as "unfair trade practices" and to address national security issues. The current extension runs through November, according to White House statements tied to the earlier negotiations.
Both sides have framed the talks as pragmatic steps to manage economic friction while seeking more durable agreements on trade practices and security concerns. The outcome of the Spain meetings could influence the shape and timing of any bilateral summit and determine whether the TikTok divestiture deadline is extended again, potentially buying more time for a buyer to be found and approved.
The negotiations follow months of intermittent engagement between Beijing and Washington aimed at de-escalation. Analysts say the talks provide a venue to discuss tariffs, investment restrictions and technology controls that have shaped economic relations between the two countries. U.S. and Chinese officials have not released detailed public agendas for the Spain meetings, and both governments have emphasized that talks are continuing.