
Chinese correspondent
The US China Trade War was able to give up when the two largest economies in the world began their conversation in Switzerland.
After US President Donald Trump struck China in January, the top trade officials on both sides met at the first high -level meeting on Saturday.
Beijing immediately retaliated, and the two countries accumulated their wives, and a tense stand off occurred. New US tariffs on imports of China are 145%and some US exports are 125%.
There were months of stern and sometimes fire investigations, where each side tried to paint the other with a more desperate party.
But this weekend they face each other through the negotiation table.
So why now?
Save the face
Despite the TIT-For-TAT tariffs in several rounds, both sides are signing a signal to break the deadlock. I was not sure who would blink first.
“I want to step back either side,” said Stephen Olson, a senior fellow and former US trade negotiator of Iseaof Ishak Institute of Singapore’s Ishak Institute in Singapore.
“The talks are going on because the two countries have decided that they can move forward without appearing to go to the other side.”
Nevertheless, Lin Jian, a Chinese spokesman for China, emphasized that the talks are being held at the request of the United States on Wednesday.
And commercial ministry says he is in favor of Washington and responds to “US business and consumer calls.”
The Trump administration, however, insisted that “because the economy collapses,” he insisted that it is a Chinese official who wants to do a lot of business.
Trump said on Wednesday the White House, “We said we started, well, I think they should go back and study the file.
But as the talks got closer, the president had more diplomatic notes. “We can play games all. The first call, who did not cause problems,” he told reporters on Thursday. “Only what happens in that room is important.”
Beijing’s timing is also key because XI is visiting Moscow. He was an honorable guest to commemorate the 80th anniversary of World War II of Nazi Germany on Friday, Moscow’s Victory Day.
XI stood with leaders from all over the world. China not only has other trade options, but also reminds the Trump administration that it is presented as an alternative global leader.
This allows Beijing to project strength even if you are heading to the negotiation table.
The pressure is on
Trump insisted that tariffs would make the United States stronger, and Beijing vowed to “fight to the end.”
According to government data, China’s factory production was hit. The manufacturing activities in April have fallen to the lowest level since December 2023. And this week’s news outlet Caixin survey found that service activities reached the lowest level of seven months.
The BBC has been out of steep tariffs, and stocks have stocks in the warehouse.
Bert Hofman, a professor at the Singapore East Asian Research Institute at the National University, said, “(China) thinks that trading is better than a transaction.
“So they take practical opinions and say, ‘Okay, we must proceed with this conversation.’
And after the major May vacation in China, Beijing’s officials decided that time was right.
On the other hand, the US economy signed a contract for the first time in three years due to uncertainty caused by tariffs.
And I’m particularly worried about the industry that has been relying on Chinese products for a long time. The owner of the Los Angeles toy company told the BBC, “We are seeing the total destruction of the supply chain.”
Trump himself admitted that American consumers would feel stabbing.
He said, “You can have two dolls instead of 30 dolls,” he said at a cabinet meeting this month.
Trump’s approval rating also slipped fear of inflation and fear of recession, and more than 60 percent of Americans focused on tariffs.
OLSON said, “Both countries are under pressure to provide some relief to more and more tense markets, companies and domestic constituencies.”
“A few days of meetings in Geneva will achieve that purpose.”
What happens next?
The conversation met with optimism, but transactions could take time to realize.
Hofman added that the talks are mainly about “contact base”. Hofman added that this may look like a “exchange of position”, and if work progresses well, it will be “agenda for future conversation.”
Negotiations on the whole are expected to take a few months similar to what happened during Trump’s first term.
After almost two years of tight tariffs, the United States and China signed a “first stage” contract to stop or reduce some of the fees in early 2020. Nevertheless, poor problems such as the Chinese government subsidies for major industries and the timeline to discard the rest of the tariffs are not included.
In fact, many of them stayed in place through the presidency of Joe Biden, and Trump’s latest tariffs add to that old.
Olson said that this time can appear “the first stage of steroids.” There are many people in illegal Pentanil trade where Washington wants China to crack down on Beijing and Moscow.
But experts warned that everything was far away.
OLSON added, “The systematic friction based on the US trade relations will not be resolved soon.”
“Geneva will only produce Adidden statements about the desire to talk to Frank Dialogue.”