BEIJING (dpa-AFX) - Top officials of the United States and China will meet in Switzerland later this week for negotiations about reciprocal trade.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng will meet in Geneva during May 9-12 in what is seen as an attempt to de-escalate tensions in trade relations between the economic major powers.
This was announced by China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
'My sense is that this will be about de-escalation, not about the big trade deal, but we've got to de-escalate before we can move forward,' Fox News quoted Bessent as saying in an interview.
'If the United States wants to resolve the issue through negotiations, it must face up to the serious negative impact of unilateral tariff measures on itself and the world,' a Chinese commerce ministry spokesperson said on Wednesday.
President Donald Trump had imposed reciprocal trade tariffs of up to 145 percent on Chinese imports. In retaliation, China announced 125 percent tariff on some U.S. goods.
At a weekend television program, Trump indicated that he will reduce the huge hike in tariffs he imposed on China at some point of time.
The U.S. Treasury Department said Secretary Scott Bessent will travel to Switzerland Thursday.
'I look forward to productive talks as we work towards rebalancing the international economic system towards better serving the interests of the United States,' Bessent said.
Separately, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said, 'At President Trump's direction, I am negotiating with countries to rebalance our trade relations to achieve reciprocity, open new markets, and protect America's economic and national security.'
Both Bessent and Greer are scheduled to also meet with Swiss President Karin Keller-Sutter to discuss negotiations about reciprocal trade.
Copyright(c) 2025 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
© 2025 AFX News
