In an effort to defuse a trade war between the two largest economies in the world, US and Chinese officials are scheduled to begin negotiations this week. According to China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng will be present at the negotiations in Switzerland from May 9–12.
According to their offices, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and US Trade Representative (USTR) Jamieson Greer will attend the conference on behalf of Washington.
Since taking office again, President Donald Trump has increased import duties on Chinese goods by up to 145%. Beijing has retaliated by imposing 125% taxes on several US commodities. However, the BBC was informed by international trade specialists that they anticipate the discussions to take many months.
Chinese Vice-President Han Zheng attended Trump’s inauguration in January, so this will be the first high-level meeting between the two nations. Mr. Bessent expressed his excitement about rebalancing the global economic system to better serve the interests of the United States.
In an interview with Fox News, he stated, “I think this will be about de-escalation, not the big trade deal, but we have to de-escalate before we can move forward.” A China’s commerce ministry spokesman stated Wednesday morning that “the United States must own up to the serious negative impact of unilateral tariff measures on itself and the world if it wants to resolve the issue through negotiations.
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