U.S. and Chinese officials are set to meet on Thursday at the U.S. Treasury for staff-level technical discussions on trade and economic issues. According to a source familiar with the matter, the talks will not include the recently announced deal for TikTok’s U.S. operations to shift to American-controlled ownership, nor will they address the upcoming high-level trade negotiations between Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng.
Instead, Thursday’s meeting will focus strictly on technical details of trade issues already raised in previous rounds of discussions. The source, speaking anonymously, emphasized that these talks are part of an ongoing dialogue rather than new negotiations.
The TikTok deal, agreed upon in Madrid last week by Bessent and He, laid out a framework to transfer the popular short video app’s U.S. operations to American ownership. President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order on Thursday, confirming that the agreement meets legal requirements mandating Chinese divestment or a shutdown of TikTok in the U.S.
The Madrid negotiations, similar to earlier sessions in Stockholm, London, and Geneva, also covered broader trade concerns between the world’s two largest economies. However, little progress has been made on key disputes. These include China’s push for tariff reductions, U.S. frustrations over declining Chinese purchases of American agricultural goods, and Washington’s criticism of Beijing’s state-driven manufacturing expansion, which has led to a surge in low-cost exports flooding global markets.
With the current tariff-reducing truce between the U.S. and China set to expire on November 10, pressure is mounting on both sides to find common ground. While Thursday’s staff-level talks are unlikely to yield breakthroughs, they reflect continued engagement aimed at managing tensions in the complex U.S.-China trade relationship.