Kathmandu. Senior US and Chinese officials met in Geneva on Saturday to defuse a trade war that has erupted after Beijing retaliated sharply after US President Donald Trump imposed sweeping tariffs.
The first talks between the world’s two largest economies since Trump imposed new tariffs on China last month included meetings between US Treasury Secretary Scott Besant and US Trade Representative Jameson Greer and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng.
The closed-door talks, which began at noon on Saturday at the residence of the Swiss ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, are expected to continue on Sunday. After a brief lunch break, the delegation returned to a secluded villa with sky-blue shutters near a large park on the left bank of Lake Geneva, AFP reporters said.
Trump has imposed tariffs on China since the beginning of the year at 145 percent, while US tariffs on some Chinese goods have reached 245 percent. In return, China has imposed a 125 percent tariff on US goods, further tightening trade restrictions between the world’s two largest economies. Trump hinted on Friday that he might reduce the high tariffs on Chinese imports, saying on social media that “it seems right to put an 80 percent tariff on China.”
“President Trump wants to work with China, he wants to deescalate the situation,” US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told Fox News. Trump’s press secretary, Carolyn Leavitt, made it clear that the US would not unilaterally reduce tariffs and that China would have to make concessions. In any case, that level of negotiations would be a symbolic gesture. The tariffs would remain in place as a deterrent.
Tense relations
Bill Reinsch, a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said relations between Washington and Beijing were not good. “We have trade-restrictive tariffs going both ways,” said Reinsch, a former member of the US government’s US-China Economic and Security Review Commission. “The relationship is deteriorating.” “But this meeting is a good sign,” he added. “I think it’s basically to show that the two sides are talking, and that’s very important in itself because China is the only country that has adopted a ‘tit for tat’ policy by raising tariffs on US goods imported into China in retaliation for Trump’s tariff hikes. The US has insisted that the tariffs be removed first, and Beijing has pledged to protect its interests.”
Besant said the meeting in Switzerland would focus on “de-escalating tensions” rather than “a grand trade deal.” Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, head of the World Trade Organization in Geneva, welcomed the talks on Friday, calling them “a positive and constructive step towards easing tensions.” .
10 percent ‘#basis’ ##basis’
China’s vice president made headlines on Friday after news that China’s exports rose last month despite the trade war. The unexpected development was attributed by experts to a rerouting of trade to Southeast Asia to cushion the impact of US tariffs. The meeting between Besant and the Chinese vice president comes two days after Trump unveiled his first trade deal with any country, a deal with Britain.
A five-page informal document with London that adjusts tariffs on British cars, steel and aluminum has reassured frustrated investors that the United States is willing to negotiate relief from current duties on sector-specific tariffs.
In return, Britain agreed to open its market to American beef and other agricultural products. But Leavitt told reporters on Friday that the 10 percent basic tariff on most British goods would remain in place and that Trump was committed to maintaining it for other countries in talks with the US.
A few hours later, Trump contradicted him, suggesting that there could be some flexibility in the base rate only if the right deal could be reached. “There could be exceptions at some point. We’ll see,” he said. “If someone does something extraordinary for us, that’s always possible.”
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