Geneva | Pakistan

The United States and China on Sunday said that progress had been made after a weekend of talks aimed at de-escalating trade tensions sparked by US President Donald Trump’s aggressive tariff rollout. The increasingly ugly trade spat between Washington and Beijing has rocked financial markets and raised fears of a global economic slowdown and an inflationary spike in the United States. “We’ve made substantial progress between the United States and China in the very important trade talks,” US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told reporters in Geneva after the second day of discussions. “The talks were productive,” he said, taking no questions but promising a “complete briefing” on the outcome on Monday. In a statement on Sunday, which did not provide any additional details, the White House hailed what it called a new “trade deal” with China. China’s Vice Premier He Lifeng told reporters the meetings had achieved “substantial progress,” echoing Bessent’s remarks, and described the atmosphere as “candid, in-depth...

Talks between US and Chinese officials continued into their second day in Geneva on Sunday, as both sides discussed how to de-escalate the trade war that threatens to inflict major damage on the world economy. Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng met with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer in their first face-to-face meetings since the world’s two largest economies imposed tariffs well above 100 per cent on each other’s goods. Talks were still underway after 3-1/2 hours on Sunday on the outskirts of Geneva, following eight hours of discussions on Saturday. Bessent declined to comment to reporters at his hotel before setting off for the talks on Sunday. But White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said the Chinese were “very, very eager” to engage in discussions and rebalance trade relations with the United States. Hassett also told Fox News that more foreign trade deals could be coming with other countries as soon as this week. Overnight, US President Donald Trump gave ...

China’s vice premier He Lipeng held talks with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent early on Saturday in Geneva in a tentative first step towards defusing a trade war that is disrupting the global economy, according to China’s state-owned news agency and two people close to the talks. Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer were due to meet He in Geneva after weeks of growing tensions that have seen duties on goods imports between the world’s two largest economies soar well beyond 100 per cent. The trade dispute, combined with US President Donald Trump’s decision 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. US President Donald Trump said on Friday an 80pc tariff on Chinese goods “seems right,” suggesting for the first time a specific alternative to the 145pc levies imposed on Chinese imports. The location of the talks has been kept secret, although a witness saw over a dozen police cars...