White House signals deal after marathon China trade talks

Washington and Beijing will release a joint statement after ‘substantial progress’ in their trade talks in Geneva over the weekend.

US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent at a meeting to discuss trade relations and tariffs, in Geneva. Picture: AFP.

Officials from the US and China wrapped up their weekend, high-stakes trade talks, with Beijing saying the two sides agreed to start a formal negotiation process and Washington touting progress toward a deal.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, who led the US delegation, told reporters that substantial progress was made during the marathon discussions with their Chinese counterparts, led by Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng.

The talks were “productive,” Bessent said, adding that the US side will share more details Monday.

During the same briefing Sunday in Switzerland, Greer suggested that some sort of agreement had been reached with the Chinese side without providing specifics.

“It’s important to understand how quickly we were able to come to agreement, which reflects that perhaps the differences were not so large as maybe thought,” Greer said. He noted the US’s massive trade deficit was why President Trump declared a national emergency and imposed tariffs on China and other nations. “We’re confident that the deal we struck with our Chinese partners will help us to work toward resolving that national emergency,” Greer said.

The White House issued a statement after the duo’s briefing, which was titled “US Announces China Trade Deal in Geneva.” The statement included Greer and Bessent’s remarks from Switzerland, but nothing else.

The state-run Xinhua New Agency said both sides agreed to establish an “economic and trade consultation mechanism” that would involve recurring discussions. The agency also said the US and China would release Monday a joint statement — a rare occurrence in recent years as bilateral relations have been strained.

Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng at trade talks in Geneva, Switzerland. Picture: AP.

The talks spanned at least eight hours Saturday and several hours Sunday, setting the stage for a potential thawing of trade relations between the world’s two largest economies. Since starting his second term, Trump has slapped 145 per cent tariffs on Chinese goods while Beijing has hit back with 125 per cent duties on American products. That has led bilateral trade to nearly dry up, heightening inflationary pressure in the US and threatening to plunge China into a deep recession.

President Trump posted on social media after the first day of talks concluded, saying great progress was made. “A very good meeting today with China, in Switzerland. Many things discussed, much agreed to. A total reset negotiated in a friendly, but constructive, manner,” he wrote, without offering details. “We want to see, for the good of both China and the US, an opening up of China to American business.”

Beijing viewed the weekend talks less as an opportunity to reset bilateral relations than as a chance to gauge whether the Trump administration intends to de-escalate current trade tensions, according to people who consult with senior Chinese officials. One of the people said Beijing wants to keep talking to bring down the tariff levels.

He, the vice premier who is leader Xi Jinping’s gatekeeper to the world’s second-largest economy, focused his talks with his American counterparts on issues of core concern to Beijing, including the sky-high US tariffs on Chinese products and new US port fees on Chinese-made and operated vessels, the people said. As a follow-up to the weekend talks, senior executives from state-owned Cosco Shipping are planning on travelling to Washington this week to meet with US officials.

He, pronounced “huh,” was joined in the Switzerland meetings by Vice Finance Minister Liao Min, who was part of China’s negotiations team during Trump’s first-term trade war with Beijing. Also in attendance was the newly named trade representative, Li Chenggang, who until recently had been China’s envoy to the World Trade Organisation. Xi’s public-security minister, Wang Xiaohong, was also part of the Chinese entourage, though he was focused on the US concerns on how China should crack down on the trade involving the chemicals used to make fentanyl.

Though some US and China officials departed the Saturday meeting early, Bessent and Greer remained for at least an extra hour to continue talks with the remaining Chinese delegation, according to one of the people briefed on the discussions. Bessent, Greer and other officials from both countries who remained were expected to have dinner at the meeting site. Earlier, Greer and Bessent were spotted having lunch with their respective teams, separate from the Chinese delegation at a nearby Italian restaurant.

The talks took place at the residence of the Swiss ambassador to the United Nations. The sprawling property is behind a massive gate on a small, one-way street. Dozens of law-enforcement officials, including the US Secret Service, provided security. Both US and Chinese officials were seen being escorted to the site in black vehicles with tinted windows.

Trump has opened the door for lower tariffs. He said in recent days that they couldn’t get much higher than the current 145 per cent, so that it was likely they would eventually come down. And Friday, he suggested lowering tariffs to 80 per cent. On Friday night, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told Fox News that the president is expected to keep significant so-called reciprocal tariffs on trade with China but may settle near 34 per cent, which is the rate Trump announced on April 2.

Trump has said he wants fairer trade with Beijing — the president has often criticised China’s manufacturing power — and that he wants to curb its role in fentanyl trafficking into the US It is likely the US would want to see some commitments from China on either front before lowering tariffs.

Some administration officials viewed Trump’s 80 per cent idea as a public message to encourage Bessent to try to get closer to completing an arrangement that would lower China’s tariff rate to around 80 per cent, The Wall Street Journal previously reported.

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