US eyes de-escalation as trade talks with China set for weekend
Kyodo | 7 May 2025
US eyes de-escalation as trade talks with China set for weekend
By Takuya Karube
The United States and China will hold talks this weekend in Switzerland to de-escalate trade tensions, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Tuesday, in the first known high-level in-person contact between representatives of the world’s two largest economies since President Donald Trump unleashed hefty tariffs on imports.
"My sense is that this will be about de-escalation, not about the big trade deal," Bessent told Fox News, referring to his upcoming meeting with China due to take place on Saturday and Sunday. "We’ve got to de-escalate before we can move forward."
Bessent, who will participate in the meeting, said the United States plans to agree with China on "what we’re going to talk about" in the future.
He added the United States does not want to decouple from China over "textiles and things like that" but wants to do so over "strategic industries" such as semiconductors, pharmaceuticals and steel.
China’s Commerce Ministry said Vice Premier He Lifeng, who oversees economic matters, will meet with Bessent during his trip to Switzerland from Friday to Monday.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said its chief, Jamieson Greer, will visit Geneva later this week to meet with his Chinese counterpart to discuss trade issues, with the negotiations coming as the United States and China continue a tit-for-tat trade war.
Last month, Trump said U.S. tariff rates on Chinese imports will ultimately "come down substantially," not staying around the 145 percent minimum level to which he raised them after returning to the White House in January.
Trump has put a 90-day pause on the implementation of his country-specific so-called reciprocal tariffs for dozens of trading partners, excluding those targeting Chinese imports, until early July.
In response to the Trump administration’s new protectionist measures, China has raised its retaliatory duties on all U.S. goods to 125 percent.
The Chinese ministry said it has decided to engage with the United States, given that the Trump administration has voiced willingness to do so, and after "fully considering global expectations, Chinese interests and calls from U.S. businesses and consumers."
But the ministry warned China’s position of defending its own development interests, international fairness and the global trade order has been consistent.
"If we fight, we will fight to the end," it said. "If we talk, the door is open."
Trump has repeatedly claimed he has a good relationship with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, voicing confidence that he can strike a deal with him.
Trump had also said multiple times that the two countries were holding tariff negotiations, which Chinese officials denied.
Earlier in the day, Bessent said the Trump administration had not yet engaged in trade talks with China.
Bessent said the United States has 18 very important trading relationships and the Trump administration has been negotiating with 17 of these partners, excluding China.
He said the United States could announce deals with some of its largest trading partners as early as this week, without naming any specific countries.
"Many of our trading partners have approached us with very good offers," said Bessent, who has been playing a central role in the ongoing tariff negotiations, in testimony before a House of Representatives committee.
He suggested last week that among the trading partners, India would be the first to reach a deal with the United States. He also said other Asian countries, including Japan and South Korea, have been the "most forthcoming" in terms of pursuing trade deals with the Trump administration.
On Tuesday, while noting that up to around 98 percent of the U.S. trade deficit is with about 15 countries, he said, "I would be surprised if we don’t have more than 80 or 90 percent of those wrapped up by the end of the year, and that may be much sooner."
"I would think that perhaps as early as this week, we will be announcing trade deals with some of our largest trading partners," he told the chamber’s appropriations committee.
