Treasury Department Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer will meet with their Chinese counterparts in Switzerland this week to discuss trade amid a standoff between the world’s two largest economies.
Bessent will travel to Switzerland on Thursday, his office announced, where he will meet with the Swiss president. He will also meet with a top economic official from China, his office said.
“I look forward to productive talks as we work towards rebalancing the international economic system towards better serving the interests of the United States,” Bessent said in a statement.
At the same time, Greer’s office announced he would head to Switzerland this week to meet with staff at the World Trade Organization and the Swiss president. Greer will also meet with his counterpart from Beijing in Geneva to discuss trade.
The meetings represent the first public disclosure of conversations between Washington and Beijing as the two nations have imposed tariffs on each other as part of a growing trade war.
Bessent earlier Tuesday clarified that there were no ongoing talks with China about a trade deal after administration officials, including President Trump in recent weeks, suggested some interactions with Beijing were taking place.
The Trump administration in April imposed sweeping “reciprocal” tariffs on dozens of countries, including China, Japan, South Korea, India, the European Union and Thailand.
Trump later announced a 90-day window in which those tariffs would be lowered to 10 percent, though he did not lower tariffs on China. Instead, he increased them to 125 percent, on top of a 20 percent tariff already in place over fentanyl production.
Beijing responded with retaliatory tariffs on U.S. imports, sparking fears of a trade war that could drive up prices for consumers.
The U.S. has been negotiating potential trade deals with other nations, such as South Korea, Japan and the United Kingdom, though Trump indicated earlier Tuesday that they may not take a traditional form when finalized.
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