US and China begin talks on easing trade war
Chinese Vice-Premier He Lipeng has begun talks with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in Switzerland in a tentative first step towards defusing a trade war that is disrupting the global economy, according to China's state-owned news agency and two people close to the talks.
Bessent and He were meeting in Geneva on Saturday after weeks of growing tensions that have seen duties on goods imports between the world's two largest economies soar well beyond 100 per cent.
The trade dispute, combined with US President Donald Trump's decision in April to impose duties on dozens of other countries, has disrupted supply chains, unsettled financial markets and stoked fears of a sharp global downturn.
The location of the talks was kept secret, although a witness saw more than a dozen police cars parked outside a private residence in a leafy Geneva suburb.
Mercedes vans with tinted windows were seen leaving a Geneva hotel where the Chinese delegation was staying on the banks of the lake as joggers preparing for a Saturday marathon warmed up.
A delegation of more than a US officials, including Bessent and US trade representative Jamieson Greer, smiled as they left their hotel.
Washington is seeking to reduce its trade deficit with Beijing and convince China to renounce what the United States says is a mercantilist economic model and contribute more to global consumption, a shift that would require politically sensitive domestic reforms.
Beijing has pushed back against what it sees as external interference.
Instead it wants Washington to lower tariffs, clarify what it wants China to buy more of, and treat it as an equal on the world stage.
With distrust running high, both sides have been keen not to appear weak, and economic analysts have low expectations of a breakthrough.
US President Donald Trump said on Friday that an 80 per cent tariff on Chinese goods "seems right", suggesting for the first time a specific alternative to the 145 per cent levies he has imposed on Chinese imports.
He has suggested the discussions were initiated by China.
Beijing said the US requested the discussions and that China's policy of opposing US tariffs had not changed.
China could be looking for the same 90-day waiver on tariffs that Washington has given other countries as negotiations take place, while any kind of tariff reduction and follow-up talks would be seen as positive by investors.
Switzerland helped to broker the meeting during recent visits by Swiss politicians to China and the United States.
Since taking office in January, Trump has increased tariffs on Chinese imports to 145 per cent, citing unfair trade practices and accusing Beijing of failing to curb the export of chemicals used to produce fentanyl, a deadly synthetic opioid.
China retaliated with 125 per cent retaliatory tariffs, and said it would not bow to "imperialists" and bullies.
Chinese Vice-Premier He Lipeng has begun talks with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in Switzerland in a tentative first step towards defusing a trade war that is disrupting the global economy, according to China's state-owned news agency and two people close to the talks.
Bessent and He were meeting in Geneva on Saturday after weeks of growing tensions that have seen duties on goods imports between the world's two largest economies soar well beyond 100 per cent.
The trade dispute, combined with US President Donald Trump's decision in April to impose duties on dozens of other countries, has disrupted supply chains, unsettled financial markets and stoked fears of a sharp global downturn.
The location of the talks was kept secret, although a witness saw more than a dozen police cars parked outside a private residence in a leafy Geneva suburb.
Mercedes vans with tinted windows were seen leaving a Geneva hotel where the Chinese delegation was staying on the banks of the lake as joggers preparing for a Saturday marathon warmed up.
A delegation of more than a US officials, including Bessent and US trade representative Jamieson Greer, smiled as they left their hotel.
Washington is seeking to reduce its trade deficit with Beijing and convince China to renounce what the United States says is a mercantilist economic model and contribute more to global consumption, a shift that would require politically sensitive domestic reforms.
Beijing has pushed back against what it sees as external interference.
Instead it wants Washington to lower tariffs, clarify what it wants China to buy more of, and treat it as an equal on the world stage.
With distrust running high, both sides have been keen not to appear weak, and economic analysts have low expectations of a breakthrough.
US President Donald Trump said on Friday that an 80 per cent tariff on Chinese goods "seems right", suggesting for the first time a specific alternative to the 145 per cent levies he has imposed on Chinese imports.
He has suggested the discussions were initiated by China.
Beijing said the US requested the discussions and that China's policy of opposing US tariffs had not changed.
China could be looking for the same 90-day waiver on tariffs that Washington has given other countries as negotiations take place, while any kind of tariff reduction and follow-up talks would be seen as positive by investors.
Switzerland helped to broker the meeting during recent visits by Swiss politicians to China and the United States.
Since taking office in January, Trump has increased tariffs on Chinese imports to 145 per cent, citing unfair trade practices and accusing Beijing of failing to curb the export of chemicals used to produce fentanyl, a deadly synthetic opioid.
China retaliated with 125 per cent retaliatory tariffs, and said it would not bow to "imperialists" and bullies.
Chinese Vice-Premier He Lipeng has begun talks with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in Switzerland in a tentative first step towards defusing a trade war that is disrupting the global economy, according to China's state-owned news agency and two people close to the talks.
Bessent and He were meeting in Geneva on Saturday after weeks of growing tensions that have seen duties on goods imports between the world's two largest economies soar well beyond 100 per cent.
The trade dispute, combined with US President Donald Trump's decision in April to impose duties on dozens of other countries, has disrupted supply chains, unsettled financial markets and stoked fears of a sharp global downturn.
The location of the talks was kept secret, although a witness saw more than a dozen police cars parked outside a private residence in a leafy Geneva suburb.
Mercedes vans with tinted windows were seen leaving a Geneva hotel where the Chinese delegation was staying on the banks of the lake as joggers preparing for a Saturday marathon warmed up.
A delegation of more than a US officials, including Bessent and US trade representative Jamieson Greer, smiled as they left their hotel.
Washington is seeking to reduce its trade deficit with Beijing and convince China to renounce what the United States says is a mercantilist economic model and contribute more to global consumption, a shift that would require politically sensitive domestic reforms.
Beijing has pushed back against what it sees as external interference.
Instead it wants Washington to lower tariffs, clarify what it wants China to buy more of, and treat it as an equal on the world stage.
With distrust running high, both sides have been keen not to appear weak, and economic analysts have low expectations of a breakthrough.
US President Donald Trump said on Friday that an 80 per cent tariff on Chinese goods "seems right", suggesting for the first time a specific alternative to the 145 per cent levies he has imposed on Chinese imports.
He has suggested the discussions were initiated by China.
Beijing said the US requested the discussions and that China's policy of opposing US tariffs had not changed.
China could be looking for the same 90-day waiver on tariffs that Washington has given other countries as negotiations take place, while any kind of tariff reduction and follow-up talks would be seen as positive by investors.
Switzerland helped to broker the meeting during recent visits by Swiss politicians to China and the United States.
Since taking office in January, Trump has increased tariffs on Chinese imports to 145 per cent, citing unfair trade practices and accusing Beijing of failing to curb the export of chemicals used to produce fentanyl, a deadly synthetic opioid.
China retaliated with 125 per cent retaliatory tariffs, and said it would not bow to "imperialists" and bullies.
Chinese Vice-Premier He Lipeng has begun talks with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in Switzerland in a tentative first step towards defusing a trade war that is disrupting the global economy, according to China's state-owned news agency and two people close to the talks.
Bessent and He were meeting in Geneva on Saturday after weeks of growing tensions that have seen duties on goods imports between the world's two largest economies soar well beyond 100 per cent.
The trade dispute, combined with US President Donald Trump's decision in April to impose duties on dozens of other countries, has disrupted supply chains, unsettled financial markets and stoked fears of a sharp global downturn.
The location of the talks was kept secret, although a witness saw more than a dozen police cars parked outside a private residence in a leafy Geneva suburb.
Mercedes vans with tinted windows were seen leaving a Geneva hotel where the Chinese delegation was staying on the banks of the lake as joggers preparing for a Saturday marathon warmed up.
A delegation of more than a US officials, including Bessent and US trade representative Jamieson Greer, smiled as they left their hotel.
Washington is seeking to reduce its trade deficit with Beijing and convince China to renounce what the United States says is a mercantilist economic model and contribute more to global consumption, a shift that would require politically sensitive domestic reforms.
Beijing has pushed back against what it sees as external interference.
Instead it wants Washington to lower tariffs, clarify what it wants China to buy more of, and treat it as an equal on the world stage.
With distrust running high, both sides have been keen not to appear weak, and economic analysts have low expectations of a breakthrough.
US President Donald Trump said on Friday that an 80 per cent tariff on Chinese goods "seems right", suggesting for the first time a specific alternative to the 145 per cent levies he has imposed on Chinese imports.
He has suggested the discussions were initiated by China.
Beijing said the US requested the discussions and that China's policy of opposing US tariffs had not changed.
China could be looking for the same 90-day waiver on tariffs that Washington has given other countries as negotiations take place, while any kind of tariff reduction and follow-up talks would be seen as positive by investors.
Switzerland helped to broker the meeting during recent visits by Swiss politicians to China and the United States.
Since taking office in January, Trump has increased tariffs on Chinese imports to 145 per cent, citing unfair trade practices and accusing Beijing of failing to curb the export of chemicals used to produce fentanyl, a deadly synthetic opioid.
China retaliated with 125 per cent retaliatory tariffs, and said it would not bow to "imperialists" and bullies.
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