China and the United States will hold talks in Switzerland to discuss lowering tariffs

The two governments announced the visit on Tuesday. This will be the first confirmed trade negotiation between the two countries since US President Donald Trump announced punitive tariffs of up to 145% on China (Beijing responded with retaliatory tariffs of up to 125%). Bessen told Fox News that the current tariff rates are unsustainable and amount to a trade embargo. The talks on Saturday and Sunday will focus on easing tensions rather than reaching a major trade deal. “But we have to ease tensions first before we can move forward,” he said. Bessen said: “We don’t want decoupling. What we want is fair trade.” After the news of the talks was announced, China’s Ministry of Commerce issued a statement saying that the US should show sincerity during the talks and correct its wrongdoings through “equal consultation” to address the concerns of both sides. The Ministry of Commerce said that China agreed to engage with the US after assessing the US demands and its own interests. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said: “If you say one thing and do another, or even continue to coerce and blackmail under the guise of negotiations, China will never agree and will not sacrifice its principles and international fairness and justice to seek any agreement.” After the talks were confirmed, US stock futures rose and the dollar strengthened. The tariff dispute has disrupted the market and may push up the prices of many goods that Americans rely on, including manufacturing equipment and cheap goods such as clothing and toys. Bessen acknowledged that Trump’s strategy of uncertainty may unsettle the market, but he said it is beneficial for the US in negotiations. He said that he and the president know what Trump will accept in the negotiations, but they will not disclose the details publicly. Trump recently said he was willing to lower tariffs on China at some point, but this week he again said that not trading with Beijing would not cause losses to the US. He claimed that Chinese ships “are turning around in the Pacific”. The president also said that to rebalance trade with China, US consumers are willing to accept higher prices and fewer choices. Earlier on Tuesday, Bessen said that although the US may announce trade deals with some partners as early as this week, negotiations with China have not yet begun. Billionaire investor Paul Tudor Jones predicted on Tuesday that Trump might cut tariffs on China by half, but he warned that this might not be enough to prevent the market from falling. Jones, the founder of macro hedge fund Tudor Investment Corp., told CNBC: “Trump has locked in tariffs; the Fed has locked in no rate cuts. This is bad for the stock market.” The US Treasury Department and the Office of the US Trade Representative said in two statements that Bessen and Greer will also meet with Swiss Federal President Karin Keller-Sutter. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessen and US Trade Representative Jamie Greer will travel to Switzerland later this week to participate in trade talks with China led by Vice Premier He Lifeng of the State Council of China, seeking to ease the tariff deadlock that could deal a heavy blow to the economies of both countries.
The governments of China and the United States issued a statement on Tuesday announcing the trip. This will be the first confirmed trade talks between the two countries since President Donald Trump announced punitive tariffs of up to 145% on China (Beijing responded with retaliatory tariffs of up to 125%).
Bessenet told Fox News in an interview that the current tariff rate is unsustainable and amounts to a trade embargo. The negotiations on Saturday and Sunday will focus on easing tensions rather than reaching a major trade agreement. “But we must ease tensions first before we can move forward,” he said.
Besant said, “We don’t want decoupling. What we want is fair trade.”
The Ministry of Commerce of China issued a statement after the announcement of the talks, saying that the US side should “show sincerity” in the talks, correct its wrongdoings and resolve the concerns of both sides through “equal consultation”. The Ministry of Commerce said that China agreed to engage with the US side after assessing the US side’s appeal and its own interests.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated: “If you say one thing and do another, or even continue to coerce and blackmail under the guise of negotiations, China will never agree, and will not sacrifice its own principles and positions or international fairness and justice to seek any agreement.”
After the negotiations were confirmed, U.S. stock index futures rose and the dollar strengthened. The tariff dispute has disrupted the market and may push up the prices of manufacturing equipment and many cheap goods that Americans rely on, including clothing and toys.
Besenst admitted that Trump’s strategy of uncertainty might unsettle the market, but he said it was beneficial for the US in negotiations. He stated that he and the president knew what Trump would accept in negotiations, but they would not disclose these details publicly.
Trump recently said that he would be willing to lower tariffs on China at some point, but this week he said that there would be “no loss” for the US if it did not trade with Beijing. He claimed that Chinese ships were “turning around in the Pacific”.
The president also said that in order to rebalance trade relations with China, American consumers are willing to accept higher prices and fewer choices.
Earlier on Tuesday, Bessenet said that although the US might announce trade deals with some partners as early as this week, negotiations with China have not yet begun.
Billionaire investor Paul Tudor Jones predicted on Tuesday that Trump might cut tariffs on China by half, but he warned that this might not be enough to prevent the market from falling.
Tudor Investment Corp. founder Jones said on CNBC: “Trump has locked in tariffs; the Fed has locked in no rate cuts. This is bad for the stock market.”
The US Treasury Department and the Office of the US Trade Representative said in two statements that Bessen and Greer will also meet with Swiss Federal President Karin Keller-Sutter.