US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer began talks with high-ranking Chinese officials in Switzerland yesterday aiming to de-escalate a dispute that threatens to cut off trade between the world’s two biggest economies and damage the global economy.
The US delegation has begun meetings in Geneva with a Chinese delegation led by Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng (何立峰), Xinhua News Agency said.
Diplomats from both sides also confirmed that the talks have begun, but spoke anonymously and the exact location of the talks was not made public.
Photo: AFP
Prospects for a major breakthrough appear dim, but there is hope that the two countries would scale back the massive taxes — tariffs — they have slapped on each other’s goods, a move that would relieve world financial markets and companies on both sides of the Pacific Ocean that depend on US-China trade.
US President Donald Trump last month raised US tariffs on China to a combined 145 percent, and China retaliated by hitting US imports with a 125 percent levy. Tariffs that high essentially amount to the countries’ boycotting each other’s products, disrupting trade that last year topped US$660 billion.
Even before the talks began, Trump on Friday suggested that the US could lower its tariffs on China, writing on social media that a “80% Tariff seems right! Up to Scott [Bessent].”
Sun Yun (孫韻), director of the China program at the Stimson Center, said that it would be the first time He and Bessent have talked. She doubts the Geneva meeting would produce any substantive results.
“The best scenario is for the two sides to agree to de-escalate on the ... tariffs at the same time,” she said, adding that even a small reduction would send a positive signal.
Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has aggressively used tariffs as his favorite economic weapon, and has imposed a 10 percent tax on imports from almost every country in the world.
The dispute with China has been the most intense. His tariffs on China include a 20 percent charge meant to pressure Beijing into doing more to stop the flow of the synthetic opioid fentanyl into the US. The remaining 125 percent involve a dispute that dates back to Trump’s first term and comes atop tariffs he levied on China back then, which means the total tariffs on some Chinese goods can exceed the 145 percent.
During Trump’s first term, the US alleged that China uses unfair tactics to give itself an edge in advanced technologies such as quantum computing and driverless cars.
Those issues were never fully resolved, and the fight over China’s tech policy now resumes.
Trump is also agitated by the US’ massive trade deficit with China, which came to US$263 billion last year.
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