US and China to publish details of 'substantial' trade talks in Geneva

The United States and China are set to provide details on Monday of the "substantial progress" made during talks in Switzerland over the weekend aimed at cooling trade tensions ignited by President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs.

US Treasury Scott Bessent and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer met with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng and international trade representative Li Chenggang for closed-door talks in Geneva on Saturday and Sunday.

It was the first time senior officials from the world's two largest economies have met face-to-face to talk trade since Trump slapped steep new levies on China totalling 145 percent, with cumulative US duties on some Chinese goods reaching a staggering 245 percent.

In retaliation, China has put 125 percent tariffs on US goods.

The increasingly ugly trade spat between Washington and Beijing has rocked financial markets and raised fears of a global economic slowdown and an inflationary spike in the United States.

Both sides sounded an optimistic note after the talks concluded on Sunday, without providing many specifics, with the Chinese delegation pledging to release a joint communique on Monday.

China's He told reporters that the atmosphere in the meetings had been "candid, in-depth and constructive," calling them "an important first step."

The two sides have agreed to set up a joint mechanism focused on "regular and irregular communications related to trade and commercial issues," Li told reporters at the briefing.

In a statement, the White House hailed what it called a new "trade deal" with China, without providing any additional details.

Devil in the details

"These discussions mark a significant step forward and, we hope, bode well for the future," World Trade Organization chief Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said in a statement shortly after her own meeting with He.

"Amid current global tensions, this progress is important not only for the US and China but also for the rest of the world, including the most vulnerable economies," she added.

Ahead of the talks at the discrete villa residence of Switzerland's ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, Trump signalled he might lower the tariffs, suggesting on social media that an "80% Tariff on China seems right!"

However, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt later clarified that the United States would not lower tariffs unilaterally. China would also need to make concessions, she said.

"It's definitely encouraging," Asia Society Policy Institute (ASPI) vice president Wendy Cutler told AFP on Sunday after the talks had concluded.

"The two sides spent over 15 hours in discussions," she said. "That's a long time for two countries to be meeting, and I view that as positive."

But, she added, "the devil will be in the details."

The Geneva meeting comes days after Trump unveiled a trade agreement with Britain, the first with any country since he unleashed his blitz of global tariffs.

The five-page, non-binding deal confirmed to nervous investors that Washington is willing to negotiate sector-specific relief from recent duties. But Trump maintained a 10 percent levy on most British goods, and threatened to keep it in place as a baseline rate for most other countries.

"What we get in these talks is a beginning of the narrative, the beginning of a dialog," Citigroup global chief economist Nathan Sheets said in an interview over the weekend, as the US-China talks were under way. "This is just the beginning of a process, getting the ball rolling."

Source: AFP