Older American and Chinese officials began uncomfortable conversations in Geneva on Saturday in a bid to great a spiralling tax dispute that threatens international trade. US treasury secretary Scott Bessent and trade representative Jamieson Greer are meeting Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, marking the first direct contact between the two sides since US President Donald Trump hiked tariffs on China to 145 % next month. Chinese state media confirmed the talks, which began behind closed doors at a quiet place in Geneva, while convoys carrying the US and Chinese delegations were seen leaving comfort hotels under limited police escort, reported media company AFP. According to the media agency Associated Press, officials from both countries also confirmed the speaks but declined to reveal their specific location. Objectives for a miracle be reduced. Yet, both Washington and Beijing are under pressure to scale back the tit-for-tat charges. China has responded to Trump’s tariff hike with 125 % duties of its own on US imports, moves that have effectively frozen bilateral trade, which stood at$ 660 billion last year.
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“De-escalation is the target, ” Bessent said earlier, making clear this is not about securing a “big business deal. ” US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick told Fox News that Trump “would like to work it out with China, ” while Trump posted on Truth Social that an “80 % tariff seems right! Up to Scott. ”Still, Trump’s press secretary Karoline Leavitt stressed the US won’t comfortable taxes formally, adding, “China would need to make compromises as well, ” AFP reported. The Geneva sessions come as Trump leans strongly on taxes as his major financial instrument since returning to the White House in January. On top of his China tariffs, Trump has slapped a 10 % tax on nearly all global imports, with specific 20 % and 31 % duties targeting the EU and Switzerland. According to AP, Bessent and Greer even plan talks with European President Karin Keller-Sutter. Trump had temporarily lowered planned 31 % tariffs on Swiss goods to 10 %, but they are set to rise again Wednesday. The European government, which abolished business tariffs in 2023, has warned that punitive measures would hurt sectors like watches and chocolate but said it now has no plans for countermeasures. China remains strong in its approach. It has refused to lower its taxes unless the US moves second. Beijing insists the US has lift its taxes before any agreements are discussed. China is the only nation to reflection Trump’s tariffs but thoroughly. Sun Yun, a China policy analyst at the Stimson Center, was quoted by AP this is the first day Bessent and He are meeting, adding, “The best situation is for the two sides to consent to de-escalate on the taxes at the same time … It cannot just be terms. ”The roots of the fight trace back to Trump’s second term, when the US accused China of unjust trade practices, including forced technology transfers and large subsidies to digital industries like quantum computing and autonomous vehicles. A temporary truce was reached in the 2020 “Phase One ” agreement, but it collapsed as Covid-19 hit and China failed to meet its promised US purchases. Bill Reinsch of the Center for Strategic and International Studies said, “The relationship is not good. We have trade-prohibitive tariffs going in both directions. Relations are deteriorating. ”Still, analysts and officials view the Geneva dialogue as a small but critical step. “The meeting is a good sign, ” Reinsch said. WTO director-general Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala echoed that, calling it “a positive and constructive step toward de-escalation. ”Despite the mutual hostility, the mere fact that both parties are willing to talk is being interpreted as a signal that neither side wants a total trade collapse.
