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Trump hails ‘great progress’ as US-China trade talks continue in Geneva


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US and Chinese officials wrapped up the second day of bargaining in Switzerland, which US President Donald Trump labelled “great progress” and a “total reset”.

The lead US negotiator in trade talks, Jamieson Greer, said the Geneva meetings had led to “a great deal of productivity.”

The world’s two leading economic powers are trying to find solutions to their trade dispute following US President Donald Trump’s heavy tariffs and Beijing’s retaliation.

Details on what exactly was negotiated have yet to be released. However, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said further information would follow on Monday.

However, Greer did say, without specifying what he was referring to, “It’s important to understand how quickly we were able to come to an agreement, which reflects that perhaps the differences were not as large as many may have thought.”

Meanwhile, China has remained silent on its side.

On Saturday night, Trump took to his social media account to say that “great progress” was being made toward what he suggested could be a “total reset” on the tariffs that have put the global economy on the brink.

“A very good meeting today with China, in Switzerland. Many things discussed, much agreed to,” the US president posted on his Truth Social platform.

“We want to see, for the good of both China and the US, an opening up of China to American business,” Trump added.

Meanwhile, in an editorial published by its state-run news agency before Sunday’s second day of negotiations kicked off, China stated that it would “firmly reject any proposal that compromises core principles or undermines the broader cause of global equity.”

The two countries met at the residence of the Swiss ambassador to the United Nations to hold the talks.

Washington and Beijing’s tariff dispute has disrupted world markets, leaving ships in port with goods from China. These negotiations are aimed at solving problems like those mentioned.

Negotiations could help stabilise global markets shaken by the US-China standoff, which has left ships carrying Chinese goods stranded in ports, awaiting final decisions on tariffs.

Trump last month raised US tariffs on China to a combined 145%, and China retaliated with a 125% levy on American imports. Tariffs that high essentially amount to the two countries boycotting each other’s products, disrupting trade that last year exceeded €586 billion.

In its editorial, Xinhua stated, “Talks should never be a pretext for continued coercion or extortion, and China will firmly reject any proposal that compromises core principles or undermines the broader cause of global equity.”

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‘We are the consumer of the world’

Senior members of the Trump administration followed the president’s lead, insisting that a reset of US-China trade relations could be on the horizon.

“Secretary Bessent has made clear that one of his objectives is to de-escalate,” US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who was not in Geneva, told “Fox News Sunday.”

He added that both the US and China had imposed tariffs that were “too high to do business, but that’s why they are talking right now.”

“We are the consumer of the world. Everybody wants to sell their goods here,” Lutnick said. “So they need to do business with America, and we’re using the power of our economy to open their economy to our exporters.”

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Kevin Hassett, director of the White House National Economic Council, told Fox News Channel’s “Sunday Morning Futures” that “what’s going to happen in all likelihood is that relationships are going to be rebooted. It looks like the Chinese are very, very eager to play ball and to renormalise things.”

“We’re essentially starting over, starting from scratch with the Chinese,” Hassett said, “and they seem to think that they really want to rebuild a relationship that’s great for both of us.”

The talks mark the first time the sides have met face-to-face to discuss the issues. And though prospects for a breakthrough are limited, even a small reduction in tariffs, especially if implemented simultaneously, could help restore confidence.

“Negotiations to begin de-escalating the growing US–China trade war are badly needed, and it’s a positive sign that both sides were able to gracefully move beyond their bickering over who had to call first,” Jake Werner, director of the East Asia Programme at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, said in an email to AP.

ADVEReadNOWISEMENT

The Trump administration has imposed tariffs on countries worldwide, but its dispute with China has been the most intense. Trump’s import taxes on Chinese goods include a 20% charge aimed at pressuring Beijing to do more to stop the flow of the synthetic opioid fentanyl into the United States.

The remaining 125% is part of a dispute that dates back to Trump’s first term and comes atop tariffs he imposed on China then, meaning the total tariffs on some Chinese goods can exceed 145%.



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