US Treasury Secretary Scott Bescent says Washington doesn’t want to separate himself from China, but he wants “fair trade.”
The US and China will hold trade talks in Switzerland this week, officials said as the world’s two biggest economies are trying to lift tensions that have effectively led to a mutual trade embargo.
The talks will be the first official involvement on Washington-Beijing trade as US President Donald Trump slapped 145% tariffs on Chinese goods and urged a 125% retaliation obligation from China.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bescent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer will be present at US consultations, their office said in a statement Tuesday.
China’s deputy prime minister will represent Beijing, China’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Businesses and investors are worried about signs of thawing tensions between the US and China amid fearing that a long-term trade war could cause serious damage to the global economy.
Last month, the International Monetary Fund cut its 2025 global growth forecast from 3.3% to 2.8% amid Trump’s trade salvo.
Economists have increasingly warned of the possibility that the US economy could fall into a recession this year, with JPMorgan’s research bringing the likelihood to 60%.
The US economy shrunk by 0.3% in the first quarter. This was the period before most of Trump’s tariffs came into effect, the first decline since early 2022.
In an interview with Fox News after the speech was announced, Bessent said that both sides have a “common interest” in the talks as the current levels of tariffs are unsustainable.
“We don’t want to separate. What we want is fair trade,” Bescent told Fox News host Laura Ingraham.
Bessent said he hopes the initial consultation will focus on “de-escalation” rather than “a large-scale trade deal.”
“We have to escalate before we can move forward,” he said.
China’s Commerce Ministry said on Wednesday that the consultations should “go on the basis of mutual respect, equality, consultation and mutual interest.”
“As the Chinese proverb says, “Learn their words and observe their actions,” a provincial spokesperson said.
“If the US wants to resolve issues through negotiations, it must acknowledge the serious negative impact that its unilateral tariff measures have had on itself and the world,” the spokesman added that the US should “respect the international economic and trade rules and the voices of fairness and reason from various sectors,” and that it “fixes illegal behavior.”