{"id":847403,"date":"2025-05-11T09:12:17","date_gmt":"2025-05-11T14:12:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/11\/the-u-s-and-china-are-finally-having-trade-talks-heres-what-to-expect\/"},"modified":"2025-05-11T09:12:17","modified_gmt":"2025-05-11T14:12:17","slug":"the-u-s-and-china-are-finally-having-trade-talks-heres-what-to-expect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/11\/the-u-s-and-china-are-finally-having-trade-talks-heres-what-to-expect\/","title":{"rendered":"The U.S. and China are finally having trade talks. Here\u2019s what to expect"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In This Story<\/h6>\n<\/section>\n

For the first time since President Donald Trump imposed a sweeping 145% tariff on Chinese imports, senior U.S. and Chinese officials will meet face-to-face this weekend in Geneva. The high-level talks could mark a turning point in a trade war that has frozen key sectors of the global economy and rattled business confidence.<\/p>\n

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U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer are scheduled to meet with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, Beijing\u2019s top economic official and a key figure on the Communist Party\u2019s Politburo. This marks the highest-level engagement between the two countries since the latest escalation in tariffs brought U.S.-China trade nearly to a halt.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what you can expect discussions to focus on.<\/p>\n

<\/a>Talks likely aimed at deescalation, not a deal<\/h2>\n

While no breakthrough \u2014 and certainly no trade deal \u2014 is expected, the meetings are widely seen as a first step toward cooling trade tensions.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy sense is that this will be about de-escalation, not about the big trade deal,\u201d Bessent told Fox News (FOXA<\/a><\/span>)\u2019 Laura Ingraham earlier this week. \u201cBut we\u2019ve got to deescalate before we can move forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bessent noted that the 145% U.S. tariff and China\u2019s 125% retaliatory duty are tantamount to an \u201cembargo,\u201d warning that such levels are \u201cnot sustainable\u201d\u2014especially on China\u2019s side. He emphasized that the Trump administration is seeking \u201cfair trade,\u201d not decoupling. The Treasury Secretary previously said<\/a><\/span> it was China\u2019s responsibility to cool the flames of the trade war, flames Trump largely stoked.<\/p>\n

Trump, earlier this week hinted that China \u201cwants to meet\u201d and that talks will happen \u201cat the right time.\u201d The president has also signaled that rates could \u201ccome down substantially\u201d \u2014 though he insists that it\u2019s other countries, not the U.S., that need trade deals. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t have to sign deals. They have to sign deals with us,\u201d he said during a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s rhetoric remains unpredictable. Friday morning, he suggested a potential lowering of the high tariffs he placed on Chinese goods \u2014 a still-high but significantly lower 80%<\/a><\/span>. <\/p>\n

\u201c80% Tariff on China seems right! Up to Scott B.,\u201d Trump posted<\/a><\/span> on his Truth Social account, referring to Bessent.<\/p>\n

The president\u2019s post has further fueled speculation that his administration is preparing to revise its tariff strategy. The New York Post (NWSA<\/a><\/span>) reported<\/a><\/span> Thursday that those numbers might not be the 80% the president teased Friday morning but lower: reportedly between 50% and 54%.<\/p>\n

<\/a>What\u2019s on the table<\/strong><\/h2>\n

While both sides have kept the official agenda vague, expectations are coalescing around a few core themes: tariff deescalation, supply chain stabilization, investment and market access, and technological policy.<\/p>\n

The most immediate focus is expected to be easing the punishing tariffs that have brought U.S.-China trade in sectors such as consumer electronics, agriculture, and industrial goods to a standstill. Both governments have acknowledged these levels are economically damaging.<\/p>\n

U.S. businesses continue to push for relief, warning of rising costs and supply chain disruptions. Imports through key U.S. ports have plummeted to early-pandemic levels, prompting some manufacturers to accelerate diversification strategies, including relocating production or reshoring parts of their supply chains.<\/p>\n

Although not expected to result in any immediate agreements, the Geneva meetings could reopen channels for more formal bilateral investment talks. American firms, particularly in finance, health care, and manufacturing, have long sought more predictable access to China\u2019s market, a key issue in past negotiations. Trump wrote<\/a><\/span> in an all-caps social media message Friday morning that \u201cChina should open up its market\u201d to the U.S., because it \u201cwould be so good for them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCLOSED MARKETS DON\u2019T WORK ANYMORE!!!\u201d Trump said in the Truth Social post.<\/p>\n

And intellectual-property protections and export controls remain flashpoints. U.S. officials could to press Beijing on IP enforcement, while China is likely to challenge expanding U.S. tech restrictions.<\/p>\n

<\/a>A carefully choreographed first step<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Both governments are portraying the talks as a pragmatic, if unofficial, step forward. In a nod to diplomacy, Bessent claimed the meetings came about because both delegations \u201chappened to be in Switzerland,\u201d while Chinese officials framed Vice Premier He\u2019s presence as a response to an invitation from the Swiss government.<\/p>\n

The neutral setting of Geneva \u2014 also home to the World Trade Organization \u2014 offers symbolic cover as both sides navigate the political optics of meeting after months of tariff escalations and stalled backchannel efforts.<\/p>\n

The Commerce Ministry said in a statement last week that senior U.S. officials have reached out \u201cmultiple times\u201d to start negotiations. Trump, however, has insisted<\/a><\/span> that Chinese President Xi Jinping has been the one to reach out to him \u2014 and not the other way around. <\/p>\n

Trump said in a recent interview with Time<\/a><\/span> that Xi had called him, which prompted Chinese officials to call that report \u201cfake news\u201d and emphasize that there had been no calls and no talks on tariffs. Since then, however, China has hinted that the government is willing to talk trade<\/a><\/span> \u2014 with some significant caveats, including no coercion or \u201cblackmail.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the U.S. wants to talk, it should show its sincerity and be prepared to correct its wrong practices and cancel the unilateral tariffs,\u201d a spokesperson for the commerce ministry said in a statement<\/a><\/span> in early May. <\/p>\n

<\/a>A fragile opening<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Despite the symbolic weight of the meetings this weekend, Bessent has emphasized that the U.S. has not yet begun formal negotiations with China. \u201cWe have not engaged in negotiations with [them] as of yet,\u201d he said in testimony before Congress earlier this week, even while acknowledging that 17 other countries are in active trade talks with the U.S. The Trump administration announced its first post-tariffs trade agreement<\/a><\/span>, with the United Kingdom, on Thursday.<\/p>\n

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian acknowledged the talks but warned that Beijing would not respond to \u201cthreats and pressure.\u201d If the U.S. is serious about a negotiated solution, he said, it must \u201cchange its approach.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, markets reacted positively to the Geneva announcement. U.S. stock futures rebounded Tuesday evening after the news broke, reflecting optimism that a diplomatic thaw might be underway.<\/p>\n

Whether this weekend\u2019s talks mark the start of real negotiations \u2014 or simply a bucket of water thrown on the flames of an intensifying trade war \u2014 will depend on what is said behind closed doors this weekend.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Read More<\/a>
\n Shannon Carroll<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In This Story For the first time since President Donald Trump imposed a sweeping 145% tariff on Chinese imports, senior U.S. and Chinese officials will meet face-to-face this weekend in Geneva. The high-level talks could mark a turning point in a trade war that has frozen key sectors of the global economy and rattled business<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":847404,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1827,848],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-847403","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-china","8":"category-finally"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/847403","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=847403"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/847403\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/847404"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=847403"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=847403"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=847403"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}