The first major meeting between US and Chinese officials since President Trump slapped massive tariffs on China will take place in Switzerland this weekend, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent expects “de-escalation” will be the primary topic of discussion.
“We’ve agreed to talk – then on Saturday and Sunday, we will agree on what we’re going to talk about,” Bessent told Fox News host Laura Ingraham about the upcoming high-stakes meeting.
“My sense is that this will be about de-escalation, not about the big trade deal,” the treasury secretary continued. “We’ve got to de-escalate before we can move forward.”
Bessent will travel to Switzerland on Thursday to meet with Swiss President Karin Ketter-Sutter and follow up on discussions Washington and Geneva had on the sidelines of last month’s World Bank Group–International Monetary Fund Spring Meetings, the Treasury Department said in a press release.
The Treasury Department noted that while in Switzerland, Bessent would also meet with “the lead representative on economic matters from the People’s Republic of China.”
Bessent will be joined at the China talks by US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, according to the Associated Press.
“There isn’t a first call,” Bessent said during his appearance on “The Ingraham Angle,” when asked which country initiated the meeting. “There are a lot of contact points over time.”
Bessent was adamant that the US and China have not yet engaged in any negotiations on lowering tariffs and suggested that the weekend meetings just happened to work out timing-wise wise for both countries.
“The world has been coming to the US, and China has been the missing piece,” Bessent said.
“I was going to be in Switzerland to negotiate with the Swiss. Turns out the Chinese team is traveling through Europe, and they will be in Switzerland also. So we will meet on Saturday and Sunday, and we have shared interests,” he continued.
“This isn’t sustainable, as I’ve said before, especially on the Chinese side,” he said of the 145% tariffs Trump imposed on the US-adversary earlier this year, describing the levy amount as “the equivalent of an embargo.”
“I’m not going to give away our strategy,” Bessent said when asked about Beijing’s previous demand that the steep tariffs must be paused before negotiations can take place.
“Everything’s on the table,” Bessent added, noting that it will be up to Trump to decide how to proceed with negotiations.
“With President Trump … strategic uncertainty will make sure that we get the best deal possible.”
