Agency. Top US officials are set to meet a high-level Chinese delegation in Switzerland this weekend. The talks will be the first major between the two countries since US President Donald Trump launched a trade war by imposing tough tariffs on imports.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Besant and US Trade Representative Jameson Grier will meet their counterparts in Geneva. The Trump administration announced on Tuesday that it is the most senior-level known talks between the two countries in months.
The talks come amid growing US market concerns about 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 largest exporter and second-largest economy.
When Trump announced his “Liberation Day” tariffs on April 2, China responded with tariffs of its own. Trump viewed the move as a lack of respect. Since then, tariffs have been levied on each other’s goods. The U.S. tariffs on China now stand at 145 percent, and the Chinese tariffs on the U.S. are at 125 percent.
American companies have already started canceling orders from China, postponing expansion plans and hedging their bets as a result of the trade war. After announcing plans for the talks, Treasury Secretary Besant told Fox News’ “The Ingraham Angle” that the United States is engaged in talks with various trading partners, “China is the missing piece.”
“The current situation is not sustainable. Especially on the Chinese side. The current high tariff levels are tantamount to a blockade. We don’t want to cut off. We want fair trade,” he said. Trump had claimed that the United States and China were in talks to reduce tariffs. China has rejected the claim, saying Trump should first reduce its tough tariffs.
The Chinese Ministry of Commerce confirmed on Tuesday that its vice premier and Besant had met in Switzerland.
“The Chinese side carefully evaluated the information from the US side and decided to agree to contact the US side after fully considering global expectations, Chinese interests and the calls of US businesses and consumers,” a ministry spokesman said. “China will not compromise its principles or global equality or justice in seeking any agreement.”
Most economists believe that the cost of tariffs will be passed on to consumers in automobiles, The bill will be passed on as higher prices for groceries, housing and other items. High prices are becoming the first burden on American consumers in the biggest economic downturn 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 was welcome.
“As the first face-to-face meeting between senior U.S. and Chinese officials since Trump took office, this is an important opportunity to have initial talks to remove some tariffs, chart a path forward, and address concerns,” Cutler said. “We shouldn’t expect any quick wins – this will be a process that will take time.”
In Switzerland, Besant and Grier also planned to meet with Swiss President Karin Keller-Sutter. Both Grier and Besant spoke with their counterparts before the trade war began. Grier told Fox News Channel last month that he spoke with his Chinese counterpart for more than an hour before the trade war began.
“I thought it was constructive,” he said. “It’s not just a plan to corner China. It’s a plan to fix the American economy, to make manufacturing a bigger part of GDP, to raise real wages, to make manufacturing a government-funded economy instead of a government-funded economy.”
Besant spoke with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in February to “exchange views on bilateral economic relations,” according to a Treasury Department news release.
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