The main economic officers of the United States and China gathered on Sunday (11) in Geneva for their second day of negotiations, in discussions aimed at relieving the tensions resulting from President Trump’s trade war.
Conversations have great implications for the global economy, which has been shaken by the tariffs that the United States and China have imposed each other in recent months. Trump imposed a minimum rate of 145% on all Chinese imports, while China has applied an import tax of 125% on American products.
These punitive tariffs are already destabilizing the world’s supply chains. American companies are striving to get products from countries besides China, while Chinese factories are looking for ways to get around US tariffs and export more to Southeast Asia. At the same time, many American companies are validing how much they can increase prices to help offset rates.
Economists have warned that the commercial dispute will slow global growth and feed inflation, potentially leading the United States to a recession. These economic fears pressed Trump to seek an agreement with China.
After about seven hours of conversations on Saturday (10), the United States said they would not issue any formal statements about the procedures.
Trump praised initial conversations as a success.
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“A very good meeting with China today in Switzerland,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Many things discussed, much awake. A total restless but constructive restraint.”
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and Jamieson Greer, the United States Commerce representative, are leading the negotiations for Washington. By Beijing, negotiations are being led by He Lifeng, China’s vice-prime minister for economic policy.
The tariffs effectively cut trade between the two largest economies in the world.
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Before the meetings, Trump suggested that he would be open to reducing rates to 80% from 145%. However, White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said China would have to make concessions so that tariffs were reduced.
The Trump government has accused China of unjustly subsidizing key sectors of its economy and flooding the world with cheap products. The United States has also pressured China to take more aggressive measures to contain forecast exports to Fentanil, a drug that has killed tens of thousands of Americans.
China has been firm in stating that it does not intend to make commercial concessions in response to Trump’s fares. Employees insisted that the nation agreed to participate in conversations at the request of the United States.
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This weekend’s commercial negotiations were designed to prepare the land for broader economic negotiations between the two countries. Economists have been skeptical about the likelihood of a quick agreement.
“We think the message is to download expectations about what can come from conversations between US and China officers this weekend,” wrote Nancy Vanden Houten, US economist at Oxford Economics, in a search note on Saturday.
Vanden Houten explained that even if the United States reduces the rate of tariff over Chinese imports to 80%, the general effective tariff rate for imports would be three times higher than when Trump’s projections was elected.
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But Trump seems ready to extol any concessions made by China as a victory for the United States.
Reiterating its appeal for China to open its markets for American companies on Saturday, Trump stated: “Great progress done !!!”
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