Trade thaw?

Relations between Washington and Beijing appeared to hit a new low this month when President Trump grumbled about “deepest, darkest, China” extending its sphere of global influence.

So it came as something of a surprise on Monday when Trump delivered an upbeat assessment about U.S.-China trade talks that took place in Madrid, including hinting at progress toward a deal over TikTok. He also shared warm words for his counterpart, President Xi Jinping of China, with whom he plans to speak on Friday. “The relationship remains a very strong one!!!,” he wrote on social media.

Global markets rallied on his post, as investors hope that the two powers can reach a détente.

(Another promising development: U.S.-India trade negotiations resumed on Tuesday in New Delhi.)

There’s a lot to work out with China. Take TikTok. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced on Monday that negotiators had reached “a framework for a deal” on the app, whose future has been in limbo for months as Washington pushed ByteDance, its parent company, to sell its U.S. operation to American investors.

But no details were given. And we’ve heard about progress toward an agreement again, again and again.

The clock is ticking. A ban of TikTok in the U.S. is set to go into effect this week — unless the White House intervenes once more.

On trade: The pause on sky-high reciprocal tariffs is scheduled to expire in November if Washington and Beijing do not extend it.