Key points
- Talks aim to defuse trade war disrupting international economy
- Expectations are low for major breakthrough
- Talks to continue on Sunday
ISLAMABAD: US President Donald Trump hailed a “total reset” in US-China trade ties, ahead of a second day of talks Sunday between top officials from Beijing and Washington aimed at de-escalating trade tensions sparked by his aggressive tariff rollout.
AFP reported that Trump praised the “very good” discussions and deemed them “a total reset negotiated in a friendly, but constructive, manner.”
The second day of closed-door meetings between US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng are due to restart in the morning, according to AFP.
Largest economies
The discussions are the first time senior officials from the world’s two largest economies have met face-to-face to tackle the thorny topic of trade since Trump slapped steep new levies on China last month, sparking robust retaliation from Beijing.
The levies imposed by Trump on the Asian manufacturing giant since the start of the year currently total 145 per cent, with cumulative US duties on some Chinese goods reaching a staggering 245 per cent.
In retaliation, China put 125 per cent tariffs on US goods, cementing what appears to be a near trade embargo between the two sides, Western media reported.
‘An important step’
Ahead of the meeting, Trump signaled he might lower the tariffs, suggesting on social media that an “80 per cent Tariff on China seems right!” However, his press secretary Karoline Leavitt later clarified that the United States would not lower tariffs unilaterally, and that China would also need to make concessions, according to AFP.
The first day of negotiations occurred Saturday at the residence of the Swiss ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, a discrete villa with sky blue shutters near a large park on the left bank of Lake Geneva.
Going into the meeting, both sides played down expectations of a major change in trade ties, with Bessent underlining a focus on “de-escalation” and not a “big trade deal,” and Beijing insisting the United States must ease tariffs first.
China’s state news agency Xinhua called the talks “an important step in promoting the resolution of the issue.”
