U.S. and Chinese officials hold talks in Spain on trade irritants, TikTok deadline

U.S. and Chinese officials began talks in Madrid on Sunday on their strained trade ties, a looming divestiture deadline for Chinese short video app TikTok and Washington’s demands that its allies place tariffs on China over its purchases of Russian oil.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer arrived shortly before Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng and China’s top trade negotiator, Li Chenggang, at the Baroque Palacio de Santa Cruz which houses Spain’s foreign ministry in the Spanish capital.

The talks mark the fourth time in four months that the delegations have met in European cities to try to keep a fractured U.S.-China trade relationship from collapsing under President Donald Trump’s tariffs.