Following two days of trade talks in Stockholm, Sweden, officials from China and the United States indicated a likely extension of their existing tariff pause.

For many years now, the U.S. government has complained about the Chinese economy being driven by exports of manufactured goods, rather than by domestic demand. The Trump administration is continuing this focus, although its language and approach diverge a bit from that of the Biden administration.

Last month, the Taliban government in Afghanistan officially announced the termination of a 25-year oil extraction contract with Chinese investors, which was the first major foreign investment deal signed by the Taliban since regaining power in 2021.

Yesterday, the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) imposed "an administrative penalty" of $95 million on Cadence Design Systems Inc. for "illegal exports of Electronic Design Automation (EDA) hardware and software and semiconductor design technology" to Chinese parties on the Entity List.

Today, Hong Kong firm CK Hutchison, which operates vital ports around the world, announced a significant shift in its ongoing efforts to sell its port business, by bringing a Chinese investor into the consortium. This move underscores the complexities of divesting critical infrastructure in the current global climate.

Over the weekend, the U.S. and EU announced some details of a bilateral trade deal, although many points remain unclear.

At a recent WTO meeting, governments whose producers have been subject to Chinese anti-dumping investigations expressed concerns about the methodologies and practices being used.