Trade Talks Begin, With Trump Tariffs as Backdrop

Negotiations are to resume Sunday in Switzerland after US and Chinese officials met for more than 10 hours on Saturday. The talks are the first since President Trump placed a 145% tariff on goods coming from China. Neither side issued an immediate assessment of progress in the negotiations, held in a hilltop villa overlooking Lake Geneva, that could diffuse the trade war that already has disrupted the flow of imports to both countries and shaken financial markets, NPR reports.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who has called Trump's tariffs unsustainable, is the lead US negotiator. The delegation includes Jamieson Greer, the US trade representative. Peter Navarro, the trade adviser who is among the tariffs' biggest advocates, was not scheduled to participate in the talks, per the New York Times. China has identified He Lifeng, vice premier for economic policy, as its top negotiator without naming anyone else involved. Bessent suggested this week that Americans shouldn't expect negotiators to cut a major trade deal but called the talks an important step. No one involved in the talks said anything to reporters as the delegations left the villa on Saturday, per the AP. (More tariffs stories.)