USA and China to hold first trade talks since tariff war

What do you need to know?

• On Saturday in Switzerland, the first talks between the USA and China will commence since the beginning of the trade war.
• The U.S. Treasury Secretary made this announcement during a Tuesday interview with Fox News.
• Bessent did not rule out a temporary suspension of tariffs on Chinese goods during the talks.

"Thanks to POTUS, the world has been coming to the US, and China has been the missing piece - we will meet on Saturday and Sunday to discuss our shared interests. The current tariffs and trade barriers are unsustainable, but we don’t want to decouple. What we want is fair trade," Bessent wrote on X.

He stated that both sides have a common interest in lowering tariffs, as the current levels—145% on goods from China and 125% on goods from the USA—are equivalent to an embargo.

"We don't want to decouple. What we want is fair trade," he said.

Bessent did not rule out a temporary suspension of tariffs on Chinese goods for the duration of the talks, adding that "everything is on the table."

The plans to start talks were also confirmed by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. As announced, China's delegation will be led by Vice Premier of Economic Policy He Lifeng. On the American side, besides Bessent, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer will also be present.

The talks in Switzerland will be the first since the imposition of the so-called "reciprocal tariffs" on China by Donald Trump, which subsequently led to exchanges in the trade war and raised tariffs to their current levels.

Although Trump announced that negotiations with Beijing had been conducted earlier and asserted that China wants to make a deal, Bessent admitted there had been no contacts between the two countries on this issue so far. Trump has repeatedly signaled his desire to de-escalate tensions with China, though he claimed that Beijing must make the first move.