Trump hails 'total reset' in US-China trade relations as talks continue
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WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump hailed a "total reset" in US-China trade relations, ahead of a second day of talks on Sunday (May 11) between top officials from Washington and Beijing aimed at de-escalating trade tensions sparked by his aggressive tariff rollout.
In a Truth Social post early Sunday, Trump praised the "very good" discussions and deemed them "a total reset negotiated in a friendly, but constructive, manner".
Trump added: "We want to see, for the good of both China and the US, an opening up of China to American business. GREAT PROGRESS MADE!!!"
He did not elaborate on the progress.
The second day of closed-door meetings between US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng is due to restart in the morning, according to an individual familiar with the talks who was not authorised to speak publicly.
"These talks reflect that the current state of the trade relations with these extremely high tariffs is ultimately in the interests of neither the United States nor China," Citigroup global chief economist Nathan Sheets told AFP.
The discussions are the first time senior officials from the world's two largest economies have met face-to-face to tackle the thorny topic of trade since Trump slapped steep new levies on China last month, sparking robust retaliation from Beijing.
"AN IMPORTANT STEP"
The first day of negotiations took place Saturday at the residence of the Swiss ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, a discrete villa with sky blue shutters near a large park on the left bank of Lake Geneva.
Going into the meeting, both sides played down expectations of a major change in trade relations, with Bessent saying they would focus on "de-escalation" and not a "big trade deal", and Beijing insisting the United States must ease tariffs first.
A commentary published by China's state news agency Xinhua called the talks "an important step in promoting the resolution of the issue".
The fact that talks are happening at all "is good news for business, and for the financial markets", said Gary Hufbauer, a senior non-resident fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE).
But Hufbauer cautioned he was "very sceptical that there will be any return to something like normal US-China trade relations", with even a tariff rate of 70 per cent to 80 per cent still potentially halving bilateral trade.
CHINA "BETTER EQUIPPED"
China's vice premier went into the discussions buoyed by Friday's news that China's exports rose last month despite the trade war.
The unexpected development was attributed by experts to a re-routing of trade to Southeast Asia to mitigate US tariffs.
Among some of the more moderate Trump officials like Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, "there's a realisation that China is better equipped to deal with this trade war than the US", said Hufbauer.
The Geneva meeting comes after Trump unveiled a trade agreement with Britain, the first deal with any country since he unleashed his blitz of sweeping global tariffs.
The five-page, non-binding deal confirmed to nervous investors that the United States is willing to negotiate sector-specific relief from recent duties, but kept in place a 10 per cent baseline levy on most British goods.
Following the US-UK trade announcement, analysts have voiced pessimism about the chances of any significant changes to the US-China trade relationship following the talks in Geneva.
"I think it's quite possible they'll walk away from Geneva saying how constructive and productive the talks were, but not actually reducing tariffs at all," Hufbauer said.
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