U.S. and China Resume High-Stakes Trade Talks in Geneva Amid Soaring Tariffs

After weeks of mounting economic tensions and unprecedented tariff hikes, senior officials from the United States and China convened in Geneva on Saturday for long-awaited trade talks aimed at containing the escalating economic standoff between the world’s two largest economies.

According to China’s state news agency Xinhua, Chinese Vice Premier He Lipeng met with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in the Swiss city early Saturday. The meeting was also confirmed by a source familiar with the matter who spoke to Reuters.

The talks follow a dramatic period of tit-for-tat tariff increases, with levies on goods traded between the two countries soaring well beyond 100 per cent. The tariff battle has rattled global markets and disrupted international supply chains, triggering concerns among investors and industries worldwide.

U.S. President Donald Trump, who has imposed tariffs as high as 145 per cent on Chinese imports, said on Friday that an 80 per cent rate “seems right,” indicating—for the first time—a willingness to consider a recalibrated rate. However, the White House made it clear that the administration is not prepared to reduce tariffs unilaterally.

 

“That was a number the president threw out there, and we’ll see what happens this weekend,” said White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt. “We need to see concessions from them as well,” she added, underscoring Washington’s expectation of reciprocal movement from Beijing.

Also attending the Geneva talks is U.S. Chief Trade Negotiator Jamieson Greer, and notably, China has dispatched a senior public-security official, signaling that the agenda extends beyond trade to also include fentanyl trafficking—an issue of growing importance in U.S.-China relations.

With stakes running high and global attention focused on Geneva, the outcome of this diplomatic engagement could mark a key moment in reshaping the trajectory of a trade war that has begun to reverberate across the world economy.

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