(AFP) – Senior US and Chinese officials will travel to Switzerland later this week to kickstart stalled trade talks following President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariff rollout, according to statements from both countries. The talks mark the first official public engagement between the world’s two largest economies to resolve a trade war escalated by Trump shortly after his return to office in January.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and US Trade Representative (USTR) Jamieson Greer will attend the talks on behalf of the United States, their offices said. Bessent told Fox News that the sides would hold meetings on Saturday and Sunday intended to lay the groundwork for future negotiations. “We will agree what we’re going to talk about. My sense is that this will be about de-escalation, not about the big trade deal,” Bessent told “The Ingraham Angle” show. “We’ve got to de-escalate before we can move forward,” he added.
Vice Premier He Lifeng will attend for Beijing, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced. “Vice Premier He, as the Chinese lead person for China-U.S. economic and trade affairs, will have a meeting with the U.S. lead person Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent,” the Chinese foreign ministry said. The USTR announced that Greer would also meet with “his counterpart from the People’s Republic of China to discuss trade matters,” without naming He.
Since Trump returned to the White House in January, his administration has levied new tariffs totaling 145 percent on goods from China, with some sector-specific measures stacked on top. Beijing retaliated by slapping 125 levies on US imports to China, along with more targeted measures.
The tit-for-tat tariffs have left the two nations with cripplingly high levies that have shocked financial markets and reportedly caused a sharp slowdown in bilateral trade. “This isn’t sustainable, as I have said before, especially on the Chinese side. 145 percent, 125 percent is the equivalent of an embargo. We don’t want to decouple. What we want is fair trade,” Bessent said.
© 2024 AFP
