Talks between us and the Chinese delegation over tariffs that threatened to overturn the global economy, which ended a day after long negotiations, will resume on Sunday, officials told The Associated Press.
There were no immediate indications whether progress was made on Saturday during a more than 10-hour meeting between a delegation led by US Treasury Secretary Scott Bescent, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and China’s Deputy Prime Minister.
An official who spoke to the Associated Press requested anonymity due to sensitivity to consultation. The talks were shrouded in secret, with neither side commenting to reporters on their way out.
Several convoys of black vehicles left the residence of the Swiss ambassador of the United Nations in Geneva. It hosted consultations aimed at eliminating trade tensions between the two biggest economies of the world. Diplomats from both sides confirmed that the speech was given.
Saturday’s lecture was held at Villa Saladin, overlooking Lake Geneva at the gorgeous 18th century Villa Saladin. According to the Geneva government, the former real estate was bequeathed in 1973 to the province of Switzerland in 1973.
The outlook for a major breakthrough appears dim. However, they hope that both countries will reduce their massive import taxes (customer duties). They impose on each other’s goods.
Trump retaliated last month after raising US tariffs in China to a total of 145%, and China suffered a blow to US imports with a 125% collection. High tariffs are essentially equivalent to countries boycotting each other’s products, disrupting trade that last year exceeded $660 billion.
Even before talks began, Trump proposed on Friday that the US could lower Chinese tariffs, saying in a social media post, “The 80% tariff seems right! Until Scott.”
Sang Yun, director of the Stimson Centre’s China Programme, said it was the first time he and Bescent had spoken. She suspects that the Geneva Conference will produce substantial results.
“The best scenario is for both sides to agree to escalate tariffs at the same time,” she said, adding that even a slight decrease would send a positive signal. “It’s not just words.”
Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has been actively using tariffs as his favorite economic weapon. He imposes a 10% tax on imports from almost every country in the world.
However, the battle with China was the most intense. His tariffs in China include a 20% fee. He says it is intended to put pressure on Beijing to do more to stop the flow of synthetic opioid fentanyl to the United States. The remaining 125% includes disputes dating back to Trump’s first term and above the tariffs imposed on China at the time.
During Trump’s first term, the US argued that China would use unfair tactics to give it the advantage of advanced technologies such as quantum computing and driverless vehicles. These include forcing the US and other foreign companies to hand over trade secrets in exchange for access to the Chinese market, subsidizing domestic tech companies using government money, and complete theft of sensitive technology.
These issues were never completely resolved. After nearly two years of negotiations, the US and China reached a so-called phase 1 agreement in January 2020. The US agreed not to advance even higher tariffs in China, and Beijing agreed to buy more American products. Severe issues such as China’s subsidies remained for future negotiations.
However, China did not realize its promised purchase. This is because Covid-19 disrupted global commerce shortly after the announcement of the Phase 1 truce.
The fight over China’s technology policy is now resumed.
Trump was also upset by the US trade deficit with China last year, bringing the trade deficit with China to $263 billion.
Swiss tariffs
In Switzerland on Friday, Bescent and Greer also met with Swiss President Karin Keller Sutter.
Last month, Trump suspended plans to impose a large 31% tariff on Swiss goods. For now, he has reduced these taxes to 10%, but has been able to raise them again.
The Bernian government has taken a cautious approach. However, it warns of the important Swiss industry impacts such as watches, coffee capsules, cheese and chocolate.
“The increase in trade tensions is not in Switzerland’s profits. Countermeasures against increased US tariffs will be accompanied by the costs of the Swiss economy, particularly by making imports from the US more expensive,” the government added this month, “Therefore, we have no intention of imposing any measures at this time.”
The government said on Saturday that Switzerland’s exports to the US will be subject to an additional 10% tariff and a 21% extra charge from Wednesday.
The US is Switzerland’s second largest trading partner after the EU. This is a bloc of 27 member countries that roughly surrounds a wealthy alpine country of over 9 million people. The US Swiss trade in goods and services has quadrupled over the past 20 years, according to the government.
The Swiss government said it had abolished all industrial tariffs in early 2024. This means that 99% of all goods from the US can be imported with Swiss duty-free.
Wiseman, Tan and Keyten are written for the Associated Press. Washington and Tan reported from Kiten from Washington and Geneva.
