Tariff talks begin between US and Chinese officials in Geneva as the
world looks for signs of hope
[May 10, 2025] By
PAUL WISEMAN, DIDI TANG and JAMEY KEATEN
GENEVA (AP) — The U.S. Treasury Secretary and America’s top trade
negotiator began talks with high-ranking Chinese officials in
Switzerland Saturday 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 Xinhua News Agency says Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S.
Trade Representative Jamieson have begun meetings in Geneva with a
Chinese delegation led by Vice Premier He Lifeng.
Diplomats from both sides also confirmed that the talks have begun but
spoke anonymously and the exact location of the talks wasn't made
public.
Prospects for a major breakthrough appear dim. But there is hope that
the two countries will scale back the massive taxes — tariffs — they’ve
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
U.S.-China trade.
U.S. President Donald Trump last month raised U.S. tariffs on China to a
combined 145%, and China retaliated by hitting American imports with a
125% levy. Tariffs that high essentially amount to the countries’
boycotting each other’s products, disrupting trade that last year topped
$660 billion.
Even before the talks began, Trump suggested Friday that the U.S. could
lower its tariffs on China, saying in a Truth Social post that “ 80%
Tariff seems right! Up to Scott.″
Sun Yun, director of the China program at the Stimson Center, noted it
will be the first time He and Bessent have talked. And she doubts the
Geneva meeting will 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 even a small reduction
would send a positive signal. “It cannot just be words.”
Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has aggressively
used tariffs as his favorite economic weapon. He has, for example,
imposed a 10% tax on imports from almost every country in the world.
But the fight with China has been the most intense. His tariffs on China
include a 20% charge meant to pressure Beijing into doing more to stop
the flow of the synthetic opioid fentanyl into the United States. The
remaining 125% 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%.
During Trump's first term, the U.S. alleged that China uses unfair
tactics to give itself an edge in advanced technologies such as quantum
computing and driverless cars. These include forcing U.S. and other
foreign companies to hand over trade secrets in exchange for access to
the Chinese market; using government money to subsidize domestic tech
firms; and outright theft of sensitive technologies.
[to top of second column] |
Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, left, Switzerland's Economy Minister
Federal Councillor Guy Parmelin, center, Switzerland's President
Karin Keller-Sutter, right, speak, during a bilateral meeting
between Switzerland and China, in Geneva, Switzerland, on Friday,
May 9, 2025. (Martial Trezzini/Keystone via AP, Pool)
 Those issues were never fully
resolved. After nearly two years of negotiation, the United States
and China reached a so-called Phase One agreement in January 2020.
The U.S. agreed then not to go ahead with even higher tariffs on
China, and Beijing agreed to buy more American products. The tough
issues – such as China’s subsidies – were left for future
negotiations.
But China didn’t come through with the promised purchases, partly
because COVID-19 disrupted global commerce just after the Phase One
truce was announced.
The fight over China's tech policy now resumes.
Trump is also agitated by America's massive trade deficit with
China, which came to $263 billion last year.
In Switzerland, Bessent and Greer also plan to meet with Swiss
President Karin Keller-Sutter.
Trump last month suspended plans to slap hefty 31% tariffs on Swiss
goods -- more than the 20% levies he plastered on exports from
European Union. For now, he's reduced those taxes to 10% but could
raise them again.
The government in Bern is taking a cautious approach. But it has
warned of the impact on crucial Swiss industries like watches,
coffee capsules, cheese and chocolate.
“An increase in trade tensions is not in Switzerland’s interests.
Countermeasures against U.S. tariff increases would entail costs for
the Swiss economy, in particular by making imports from the USA more
expensive,” the government said last week, adding that the executive
branch “is therefore not planning to impose any countermeasures at
the present time.”
The government said Swiss exports to the United States on Saturday
were subject to an additional 10% tariff, and another 21% beginning
Wednesday.
The United States is Switzerland’s second-biggest trading partner
after the EU – a 27-member-country bloc that nearly surrounds the
wealthy Alpine country of more than 9 million. U.S.-Swiss trade in
goods and services has quadrupled over the last two decades, the
government said.
The Swiss government said Switzerland abolished all industrial
tariffs on Jan. 1 last year, meaning that 99% of all goods from the
United States can be imported into Switzerland duty-free.
____
Wiseman and Tang reported from Washington.
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