Talks between top US and Chinese officials resumed for a second day on Sunday, after US President Donald Trump voiced optimism over the negotiations aimed at de-escalating trade tensions sparked by his aggressive tariff rollout.
In a Truth Social post following the first day of talks in Geneva on Saturday, Trump praised the “very good” discussions and deemed them “a total reset negotiated in a friendly, but constructive, manner”.
Earlier, the Chinese state news agency Xinhua also described the talks in Switzerland as “an important step in promoting the resolution of the issue”.
The second day of closed-door meetings between US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng resumed shortly after 10am (1pm PKT) on Sunday.
As of Saturday, the talks were taking place at the residence of the Swiss ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, a discrete villa with sky-blue shutters near a large park on the left bank of Lake Geneva.
“These talks reflect that the current state of the trade relations with these extremely high tariffs is ultimately in the interests of neither the United States nor China,” Citigroup global chief economist Nathan Sheets told AFP, calling the tariffs a “lose-lose proposition”.
‘Good news’
The discussions are the first time senior officials from the world’s two largest economies have met face-to-face to tackle the thorny topic of trade since Trump slapped steep new levies on China last month, sparking a robust retaliation from Beijing.
The tariffs imposed by Trump on the Asian manufacturing giant since the start of the year currently total 145 per cent, with cumulative US duties on some Chinese goods reaching a staggering 245pc.
In retaliation, China put 125pc tariffs on US goods.
Ahead of the meeting, Trump signalled he might lower the tariffs, suggesting on social media that an “80pc Tariff on China seems right!”
However, his press secretary Karoline Leavitt later clarified that the United States would not lower tariffs unilaterally, and that China would also need to make concessions.
Going into the meeting, both sides played down expectations of a major change in trade relations, with Bessent underlining a focus on “de-escalation” and not a “big trade deal,” and Beijing insisting the United States must ease tariffs first.
The fact that the talks are even happening “is good news for business, and for the financial markets,” said Gary Hufbauer, a senior non-resident fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics.
But Hufbauer cautioned he was “very skeptical that there will be any return to something like normal US-China trade relations,” with even a tariff rate of 70pc to 80pc still potentially halving bilateral trade.
