Talks between the United States and China at the highest level since US President Donald Trump launched a trade war began in Geneva today in an attempt to calm tensions between the world's two largest economies.
In a sign of the importance they attach to the negotiations, the two countries have sent their highest-ranking officials to Geneva, including US Treasury Secretary Scott Besant, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng.
"High-level economic and trade talks between China and the United States have begun in Geneva," in Switzerland, Chinese public broadcaster CCTV reported around noon.
Negotiations are scheduled to take place today and tomorrow, but the delegations are being discreet and the meeting is taking place in a place hidden from view on the left bank of the lake, Agence France-Presse noted.
This morning at around 9.30:XNUMX, Scott Besant, Jamison Greer and a delegation of about ten people walked through the lobby of the Intercontinental, a hotel in the hinterland of Geneva where American delegations usually stay, but when asked by a reporter to say what he expected, Besant just turned his head and made no comment before getting into a black BMW, reports Agence France-Presse.
Ahead of the meeting, US President Donald Trump made a gesture of goodwill and proposed reducing to 80 percent the punitive tariffs he himself imposed on Chinese products.
"The president would like to resolve the issue with China. As he said, he would like to defuse the situation," US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told Fox News last night.
The gesture is symbolic since that level of tariffs would still be unbearable for most Chinese products in the US, writes Agence France-Presse.
Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has used tariffs as a political weapon. He has imposed 145 percent tariffs on Chinese goods, on top of previously existing tariffs.
Beijing, which has vowed to fight Trump's tariffs "to the end," retaliated by imposing 125 percent tariffs on American products.
As a result, bilateral trade has virtually ceased, and stock markets are experiencing major spikes and drops.
The planned negotiations in Geneva are therefore "a positive and constructive step towards de-escalation," said World Trade Organization Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iewala, ahead of the start of the negotiations.
The Chinese vice premier appears to be coming to the negotiating table with a certain advantage. Beijing announced on Friday that Chinese exports jumped 8,1 percent in April, four times more than analysts had predicted, but exports to the US fell by almost 18 percent.
According to the Chinese, the Americans also requested these talks.
Analysts expect that a symbolic and temporary gesture will be made that could calm tensions, but not resolve the underlying disagreements.
Professor Su Bin of the China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) in Shanghai does not expect tariffs to be returned to a "reasonable level", believing that even if they are reduced, it will be by half, which will also be too high for normal trade exchange.
There is also a practical obstacle, according to analysts, which is that Trump wants to meet with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping and reach an agreement with him, and then have their subordinates resolve the details, while the Chinese want all issues to be resolved before the two presidents meet.
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