Pakistan(National Times)- News of the planned Geneva meeting, first announced by Washington late Tuesday, sent U.S. equity index futures higher. Stock markets in China and Hong Kong followed suit during Asian trading on Wednesday. The talks come after weeks of escalating tensions that have seen duties on goods imports between the world\u2019s two largest economies soar well beyond 100%, amounting to what Bessent on Tuesday described as the equivalent of a trade embargo. The impasse, alongside U.S. President Donald Trump\u2019s decision last month to slap sweeping duties on dozens of other countries, has upended supply chains, roiled financial markets and stoked fears of a sharp downturn in global growth. The negotiating teams convening in Switzerland, known for its neutrality, are expected to discuss reductions to the broader tariffs, two sources familiar with the planning said. The talks should also cover duties on specific products, export controls and Trump\u2019s decision to end de minimis exemptions on low-value imports, one of the sources added. \u201cMy sense is this will be about de-escalation,\u201d Bessent told Fox News after the announcement. \u201cWe\u2019ve got to de-escalate before we can move forward.\u201d A Chinese commerce ministry spokesperson later confirmed that China had agreed to meet the U.S. envoys. \u201cOn the basis of fully considering global expectations, China\u2019s interests, and the appeals of U.S. industry and consumers, China has decided to re-engage the U.S.,\u201d the spokesperson said, citing a proverb about actions speaking louder than words. This is the first meeting between senior Chinese and U.S. officials since U.S. Senator Steve Daines met Premier Li Qiang in Beijing in March. China\u2019s commerce ministry on Friday said it was \u201cevaluating\u201d an offer from Washington to hold talks. While Saturday\u2019s talks are aimed at easing tensions, it remains unclear how substantive they could prove, said Bo Zhengyuan, partner at Shanghai-based policy consultancy Plenum. \u201cFor more comprehensive geopolitical negotiations to be possible, tariffs would need to be lowered first \u2013 the key is whether both sides can agree on the extent and scope of tariff rollbacks, as well as on follow-up talks,\u201d Bo said. Bessent told Fox News the two sides would work out during their meeting on Saturday \u201cwhat to talk about.\u201d \u201cLook, we have a shared interest that this isn\u2019t sustainable,\u201d Bessent said. \u201cAnd 145%, 125% is the equivalent of an embargo. We don\u2019t want to decouple. What we want is fair trade.\u201d Trump and his trade team have sent mixed signals over progress in talks with major trading partners rushing to cement agreements with Washington and avoid the imposition of hefty import taxes on their goods. Bessent told lawmakers earlier in the day that the Trump administration was negotiating with 17 major trading partners and could announce trade agreements with some of them as early as this week. Trump told reporters before a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney that he and top administration officials will review potential trade deals over the next two weeks to decide which ones to accept. Trump\u2019s moves on tariffs, which he says are aimed in part at reducing the U.S. trade deficit, are so far having an opposite effect, with the gap hitting a record in March as businesses rushed to import goods ahead of the levies. Notably, though, the U.S. trade deficit with China narrowed sharply as the crushing levies Trump has imposed cut deeply into Chinese imports.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Pakistan(National Times)- News of the planned Geneva meeting, first announced by Washington late Tuesday, sent U.S. equity index futures higher. Stock markets in China and Hong Kong followed suit during Asian trading on Wednesday. The talks come after weeks of escalating tensions that have seen duties on goods imports between the world\u2019s two largest economies […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":103895,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-103894","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n