Top officials from the world's two biggest economies are set to meet in Sweden on Monday and Tuesday, with Bessent in the US delegation and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng attending the talks.
"We're in a very good place with China now," Bessent told Bloomberg Television on Wednesday. He added that the upcoming talks would likely move beyond rare earths and export controls, and "on to bigger discussions."
Asked about the August 12 deadline, when reduced tit-for-tat tariffs are due to bounce back to steeper levels, Bessent signaled openness to a significant extension.
"I think that we could roll it forward, maybe in a 90-day increment," he said in the interview.
"Both sides have de-escalated, and I think we can get into a very good cadence of regular meetings with them," he said.
Washington and Beijing had slapped escalating tariffs on each other's exports in April, reaching prohibitive triple-digit levels, but both sides reached an agreement to temporarily lower them after negotiations in Geneva.
The truce, however, is set to expire in August.
Officials from the two countries also met in London in June.
On Wednesday, Bessent said he expected the upcoming discussions could include talks on Chinese purchases of Russian and Iranian oil, alongside security issues.
He said both countries would also discuss "purchasing agreements," especially on agriculture.
Trade talks between the United States and China had initially stalled after their Geneva meeting, with Washington accusing Beijing of violating their pact and slow-walking export license approvals for rare earths.
But the countries have since agreed to move forward on a framework to implement their consensus.
Asked about a potential meeting between President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, Bessent said he did not expect anything before September and had no further information on this front.
Regarding China's placing of an exit ban on a US government employee, Bessent said that issue could be on the agenda, but that he did not see the move as an attempt to gain leverage with Washington.
Nestle struggles amid weak China market
Zurich (AFP) July 24, 2025 -
Nestle said Tuesday its net profit fell in the first half of the year as the Swiss food giant behind Nespresso coffee capsules and KitKat chocolate bars struggles to turn around its fortunes amid sluggish consumer spending in China.
The company whose brands also include Purina dog food, Maggi bouillon cubes, Gerber baby food and Nesquik chocolate-flavoured drinks, reported a 10.3 percent drop in first half profits to 5.1 billion Swiss francs ($6.4 billion).
Sales, however, only dipped by 1.8 percent to 44.2 billion francs, which was due in large part to passing on higher cocoa and coffee prices to consumers, although faced even greater headwinds from the strong Swiss currency.
"We are also taking decisive measures to strengthen our business in Greater China," said chief executive Laurent Freixe.
The company said China, which has suffered sluggish domestic consumption amid a deflationary price environment, had a 0.7 percentage point impact on organic growth in the second quarter.
Overall, the company reported 2.9 percent quarterly organic growth, which strips out currency effects and other elements to measure performance.
Nestle warned China would continue to weigh on growth as it invested to turn around its performance.
Nestle's shares fell 3.5 percent in a Swiss market that was flat overall, as the sales figures missed the analyst consensus calculated by Swiss financial news agency AWP. Net profit came in slightly higher than expected.
Nestle made a surprise switch of its chief executive least year amid soft spending by consumers for food and household goods.
Nestle's share price slumped by nearly a quarter last year, raising concerns in Switzerland, where pension funds invest heavily in the company.
The company launched a number of measures to boost its product offering and cut costs.
That was reflected in better organic growth in the second quarter compared to the same period last year, and Nestle said that it was expected to continue for the rest of the year.
Nestle said it was maintaining its 2025 guidance "despite factoring in increased headwinds".
It aims for an underlying trading operating profit margin of at least 16 percent this year, compared to 17.2 percent in 2024. It came in at 16.5 percent in the first half of the year.
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