Tariff talks begin between US and Chinese officials in Geneva as the world looks for signs of hope

GENEVA AP The U S Treasury Secretary and America s top transaction negotiator began talks with high-ranking Chinese personnel in Switzerland Saturday aiming to de-escalate a dispute that threatens to cut off arrangement between the world s two biggest economies and damage the global economic activity Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U S Agreement Representative Jamieson Greer have begun meetings in Geneva with a Chinese delegation led by Vice Premier He Lifeng Diplomats from both sides also validated that the talks have begun but spoke anonymously and the exact location of the talks wasn t made population However a motorcade of black cars and vans was seen coming and going from the home of the Swiss ambassador to the United Nations delegation in the wealthy city and a diplomatic source speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the meeting reported the sides met for about two hours before departing for a previously arranged luncheon Prospects for a major breakthrough appear dim But there is hope that the two countries will scale back the massive taxes tariffs they ve slapped on each other s goods a move that would relieve world financial markets and companies on both sides of the Pacific Ocean that depend on U S -China agreement U S President Donald Trump last month raised U S tariffs on China to a combined and China retaliated by hitting American imports with a levy Tariffs that high essentially amount to the countries boycotting each other s products disrupting bargain that last year topped billion Even before the talks began Trump suggested Friday that the U S could lower its tariffs on China saying in a Truth Social post that Tariff seems right Up to Scott Sun Yun director of the China activity at the Stimson Center noted it will be the first time He and Bessent have talked She doubts the Geneva meeting will produce any substantive results The best scenario is for the two sides to agree to de-escalate on the tariffs at the same time she commented adding even a small reduction would send a positive signal It cannot just be words Since returning to the White House in January Trump has aggressively used tariffs as his favorite economic weapon He has for example imposed a tax on imports from almost every country in the world But the fight with China has been the most of intense His tariffs on China include a charge meant to pressure Beijing into doing more to stop the flow of the synthetic opioid fentanyl into the United States The remaining involve a dispute that dates back to Trump s first term and comes atop tariffs he levied on China back then which means the total tariffs on particular Chinese goods can exceed During Trump s first term the U S alleged that China uses unfair tactics to give itself an edge in advanced technologies such as quantum computing and driverless cars These include forcing U S and other foreign companies to hand over pact secrets in exchange for access to the Chinese domain using establishment money to subsidize domestic tech firms and outright theft of sensitive technologies Those issues were never fully resolved After nearly two years of negotiation the United States and China reached a so-called Phase One agreement in January The U S agreed then not to go ahead with even higher tariffs on China and Beijing agreed to buy more American products The tough issues such as China s subsidies were left for future negotiations But China didn t come through with the promised purchases partly because COVID- disrupted global commerce just after the Phase One truce was stated The fight over China s tech guidelines now resumes Trump is also agitated by America s massive agreement deficit with China which came to billion last year In Switzerland Friday Bessent and Greer also met with Swiss President Karin Keller-Sutter Trump last month suspended plans to slap hefty tariffs on Swiss goods more than the levies he plastered on exports from European Union For now he s reduced those taxes to but could raise them again The leadership in Bern is taking a cautious approach But it has warned of the impact on crucial Swiss industries like watches coffee capsules cheese and chocolate An increase in transaction tensions is not in Switzerland s interests Countermeasures against U S tariff increases would entail costs for the Swiss financial system in particular by making imports from the USA more expensive the cabinet reported last week adding that the executive branch is therefore not planning to impose any countermeasures at the present time The executive reported Swiss exports to the United States on Saturday were subject to an additional tariff and another beginning Wednesday The United States is Switzerland s second-biggest trading partner after the EU the -member-country bloc that nearly surrounds the wealthy Alpine country of more than million U S -Swiss deal in goods and services has quadrupled over the last two decades the cabinet explained The Swiss establishment declared Switzerland abolished all industrial tariffs on Jan last year meaning that of all goods from the United States can be imported into Switzerland duty-free Wiseman and Tang shared from Washington