US Treasury Secretary Scott Bescent will speak during a daily briefing at the Brady Briefing Room at the White House in Washington, DC on April 29, 2025.
Mandelungan | AFP | Getty Images
Treasury Secretary Scott Becent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer will meet with Swiss Chinese counterparts this weekend to discuss economic and trade issues, their office announced Tuesday.
“We shared our interest,” Bescent later said of Fox News’ “Ingraham Angle.” The current tariff war is “not sustainable,” Bescent said. [tariffs]125% corresponds to an embargo. We don’t want to separate, what we want is fair dealing. ”
Bescent and Greer will meet with Chinese counterparts on both Saturday and Sunday, the Treasury Secretary said.
The meeting appears to be a major step towards Washington and Beijing, launching negotiations to potentially resolve the ongoing trade war announced by President Donald Trump.
“My feeling is that this is not about a massive trade agreement, it’s about de-escalation,” Bescent told host Laura Ingraham. “But before we can move forward, we have to escalate.”
Last month, Trump raised tariffs on Chinese imports to 145%. China, one of America’s biggest trading partners, retaliated with sudden tariffs on US goods.
Stock futures, which opened in red on Tuesday evening, rose sharply following the news of the meeting.
Both Bescent and Greer will meet with Swiss President Karin Keller Sutter during their visit, their office said.
China’s Foreign Ministry said his Deputy Prime Minister Lifeng, the top official in China and the US economic and trade, will meet with Switzerland’s Bessent, NBC News reported.
“Economic security is national security, and President Donald J. Trump is leading the way in and out of America, where it is stronger and more prosperous,” Bescent said in a statement announcing the conference.
“We look forward to productive consultations as we are committed to re-aligning the international economic system to better serve the interests of the United States,” Bescent said.
Greer’s office said while in Geneva he would “discuss trade issues to meet with his counterparts from the People’s Republic of China.”
“At President Trump’s direction, I am negotiating with the country to readjust trade relations, achieve mutual relations, open new markets, and protect America’s economic and national security,” Greer said.
“I look forward to holding a productive meeting with some of my counterparts and visiting with my team in Geneva.
Trump said Tuesday that China wanted to meet and that the US would do so “at the right time.”
“They want to negotiate and they want to have a meeting, so we’ll be meeting them at the right time,” Trump told the White House during a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.
Trump also expressed his frustration to people, “I ask how many transactions I’m signing this week.” Despite the fact that his administration said other countries wanted bilateral trade talks with the United States.
“Everyone says, ‘When, when, when will you sign the contract?'” Trump held the White House.
“We don’t have to sign a deal. They need to sign a deal with us. They want a part of our market. We don’t want a part of their market,” Trump said.
Bessent also said Tuesday that the US was negotiating with 17 trading partners, with China not one of them.
“China, we are not engaged in negotiations yet,” Bescent said before the House Budget Subcommittee.
– CNBC’s Erin Doherty I contributed to this report.
