Trump Welcomes Restart of US-China Trade Relations

Significant progress in negotiations between US officials and China regarding tariffs was announced by Donald Trump, emphasizing a “full restart” of trade relations between Washington and Beijing. In a post on Truth Social, Trump stated: “A very good meeting today (yesterday Saturday) with China, in Switzerland. Many issues were discussed, many agreed upon. They negotiated a full restart in a friendly but constructive manner. We want to see, for the good of both China and the US, an opening of China to American businesses. Great progress has been made!” Negotiations between American and Chinese officials in Geneva are set to continue today. Leading the US delegation is Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and White House trade representative James Grier. The vice premier of the Chinese government, He Lifeng, heads the Beijing delegation. Since his return to the White House in January, Trump has used tariffs as leverage against US trade partners. He imposed additional customs tariffs of 145% on imports from China, with Beijing retaliating with 125% tariffs on American products. As a result, bilateral trade has largely stalled, causing significant disruptions in global markets. On Friday, Trump hinted at possibly reducing tariffs on Chinese goods to 80%. “The president wants to resolve the issue with China. As he has said, he wants to calm the situation,” noted US Commerce Secretary Warren Latnick on Fox News. This gesture is seen as symbolic, as even at this level, tariffs would remain prohibitive for most Chinese exports to the United States. WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala described the Geneva talks as a “positive and constructive step towards de-escalation.” She had previously expressed “great concern” over the US-China trade conflict. Despite representing only about 3% of global trade, the disconnection of these two major economies could have significant consequences. Potential outcomes include splitting the global economy into two isolated blocs based on geopolitical interests. China approached the negotiating table with some leverage after announcing an 8.1% increase in exports in April—four times what analysts predicted—but exports to the US dropped nearly 18%. Trump “won’t unilaterally reduce tariffs on China. We need to see concessions from their side too,” warned White House representative Carolyn Levitt. Analyst Bonnie Glaser estimates that a possible outcome of the Swiss talks could be an agreement to suspend most, if not all, tariffs imposed this year during bilateral negotiations. Professor Su Bin of the China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) in Shanghai doesn’t believe tariffs will return to ‘reasonable levels’: “Even if they decrease, it’s more likely they’ll be halved. But even at that level, they’ll still be very high to restore normal trade relations.