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Treasury secretary Scott Bessent on Sunday said the US made “substantial progress” over two days of trade talks with Chinese officials in Geneva, in the first sign that Washington and Beijing may start to ratchet down tensions.
“We will be giving details tomorrow, but I can tell you that the talks were productive,” Bessent told reporters after he and US trade representative Jamieson Greer finished their meetings with Chinese vice-premier He Lifeng.
Greer said it was “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” and added that there had been a “lot of groundwork”.
The optimistic comments from the US negotiating team were the first sign that the countries might de-escalate the trade war that has roiled financial markets and triggered concerns about global supply chains.
The US has placed a 145 per cent tariff on goods from China while Beijing has retaliated with its own 125 per cent levy.
The Chinese embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment about China’s stance on the talks. The US and Chinese negotiation teams met at the Geneva residence of the Swiss ambassador to the UN.
Following the first day of negotiations on Saturday, Trump posted on his Truth Social platform that the US and China had made “great progress”. He added: “A total reset negotiated in a friendly, but constructive manner.”
This is a developing story
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