Top US officials will meet with Chinese delegation in Switzerland in
first major talks of trade war
[May 07, 2025] By
ZEKE MILLER, FATIMA HUSSEIN and DIDI TANG
WASHINGTON (AP) — Top U.S. officials are set to meet with a high-level
Chinese delegation this weekend in Switzerland in the first major talks
between the two nations since President Donald Trump sparked a trade war
with stiff tariffs on imports.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson
Greer will meet with their counterparts in Geneva in the most-senior
known conversations between the two countries in months, the Trump
administration announced Tuesday. It comes amid growing U.S. market
worry over the impact of the tariffs on the prices and supply of
consumer goods.
No country has been hit harder by Trump’s trade war than China, the
world’s biggest exporter and second largest economy. When Trump
announced his “Liberation Day” tariffs on April 2, China retaliated with
tariffs of its own, a move that Trump viewed as demonstrating a lack of
respect. The tariffs on each other’s goods have been mounting since
then, with the U.S. tariffs against China now at 145% and China tariffs
on the U.S. at 125%.
American firms have already begun canceling orders from China,
postponing expansion plans and hunkering down as a result of the tariff
war.
After plans for the talks had been announced, Bessent said on Fox News'
“The Ingraham Angle” that as the U.S. has engaged in negotiations with
various trading partners, “China has been the missing piece.”
The current situation, he said, “isn’t sustainable ... especially on the
Chinese side.” He added that current high tariff levels were “the
equivalent of an embargo. We don’t want to decouple. What we want is
fair trade.”
Trump had claimed previously that the U.S. and China were holding
negotiations on lowering tariffs, which Beijing has denied, saying Trump
must first lower his stiff tariffs.
The Chinese Commerce Ministry on Tuesday confirmed the meeting between
its vice premier and Bessent in Switzerland.
“The Chinese side carefully evaluated the information from the U.S. side
and decided to agree to have contact with the U.S. side after fully
considering global expectations, Chinese interests and calls from U.S.
businesses and consumers,” said a ministry spokesperson.
The spokesperson said China would not "sacrifice its principles or
global equity or justice in seeking any agreement.”
[to top of second column] |
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent testifies before the House
Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on Financial Services and
General Government, oversight hearing of the U.S. Department of the
Treasury on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, May 6, 2025. (AP
Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
 Most economists have said the cost
of the tariffs would get passed along to consumers in the form of
higher prices for autos, groceries, housing and other goods. And the
higher prices are already becoming a burden on U.S. consumers, who
are in the biggest economic funk since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Meanwhile, economists say the risk of a recession is growing.
Wendy Cutler, a former U.S. trade official and now vice president of
the Asia Society Policy Institute, said the upcoming meeting is a
welcome development.
“As the first face to face meeting between senior U.S. and Chinese
officials since Trump’s inauguration, it’s an important opportunity
to have initial talks on unwinding some tariffs, mapping out a path
forward, as well as raising concerns,” Cutler said. “We should not
expect any quick victories — this will be a process that will take
time.”
In Switzerland, Bessent and Greer also plan to meet with Swiss
President Karin Keller-Sutter, according to readouts from their
respective offices.
Both Greer and Bessent had talked with their counterparts before the
beginning of the trade war.
Greer told Fox News Channel last month that he spoke with his
Chinese counterpart for over an hour before the trade war started.
“I thought it was constructive,” he said, adding: “This is not a
plan just to encircle China. It’s a plan to fix the American
economy, to have a greater share of manufacturing as GDP, to have
real wages go up, to be producing things instead of having an
economy that’s financed by the government.”
And Bessent in February spoke with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng
“to exchange views on the bilateral economic relationship,”
according to a Treasury news release.
___
Associated Press writer Paul Wiseman in Washington contributed to
this report.
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