China’s vice premier, He Lifeng, and the US treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, met after weeks of growing tensions that have seen duties on goods imports between the world’s two largest economies rise above 100%, according to The Guardian.
The trade dispute, combined with the decision from the US president, Donald Trump, last month to impose duties on dozens of other countries, has disrupted supply chains, unsettled financial markets, and stoked fears of a sharp global downturn.
Trump said on Friday an 80% tariff on Chinese goods “seems right”, suggesting for the first time a specific alternative to the 145% levies imposed on Chinese imports.
The location of the talks has been kept secret, although a witness saw more than a dozen police cars outside a private residence in a leafy Geneva suburb.
MA/PR
