Top Trump officials to meet with Chinese counterparts amid trade war

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent testifies before the House Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government, oversight hearing of the U.S. Department of the Treasury on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, May 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

WASHINGTON — Top U.S. officials are set to meet with a high-level Chinese delegation this weekend in Switzerland, the administration announced Tuesday, in the first major talks between the two nations since President Donald Trump sparked a trade war with stiff tariffs on imports.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and trade representative Jamieson Greer will meet with their counterparts in Geneva in the most-senior known conversations between the two countries in months. It comes amid growing U.S. market worry over the impact of the tariffs on the prices and supply of consumer goods.

Trump had claimed previously that the U.S. and China were holding negotiations on lowering tariffs, which Beijing has denied, saying Trump must first lower his stiff tariffs. Bessent earlier Tuesday testified to a House committee that the U.S. and China “have not engaged in negotiations” but “as early as this week,” the U.S. will be announcing trade deals with some of the U.S. largest trading partners.

The Chinese Commerce Ministry on Tuesday confirmed the meeting between the vice premier and Bessent in Switzerland.

“The Chinese side carefully evaluated the information from the U.S. side and decided to agree to have contact with the U.S. side after fully considering global expectations, Chinese interests and calls from U.S. businesses and consumers,” said a ministry spokesperson.

Bessent and Greer also plan to meet with Swiss President Karin Keller-Sutter, according to readouts from their respective offices.

Both Greer and Bessent have had communications with their counterparts prior to the start of the trade war.

Greer told Fox News Channel last month that he spoke with his Chinese counterpart for over an hour before the trade war started. “I thought it was constructive,” he said, adding, “this is not a plan just to encircle China. It’s a plan to fix the American economy, to have a greater share of manufacturing as GDP, to have real wages go up, to be producing things instead of having an economy that’s financed by the government.”

And Bessent in February spoke with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng “to exchange views on the bilateral economic relationship,” according to a Treasury news release.

Zeke Miller, Fatima Hussein And Didi Tang, The Associated Press