The countries are finally talking, but why now?

The US China Trading War could relieve, with the two largest economies in the world begin in Switzerland.

Top trading officers on both sides met on Saturday at the first high-ranking meeting since US President Donald Trump met China with tariffs in January.

Beijing immediately returned and there was a tense gap when the two countries piled up the levies. New US tariffs for Chinese imports are 145%, and some US exports to China have 125%.

There were weeks of the rear and sometimes fiery rhetoric, where each side tried to paint the other as a desperate party.

And yet they have each other this weekend over the negotiating table.

So why now?

Despite several rounds of tit-for-tat tariffs, both sides have sent signals that they want to break the dead end. Except not clear who would flash first.

“None of the two teams wants to resist,” said Stephen Olson, Senior visit to Isas-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore and former American Trade negotiation leader.

“The talks are now taking place because both countries have judged that they can go forward without being involved in the other side.”

Nevertheless, the spokesman for the China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasized that “the talks will take place at the USA”.

And the Ministry of Commerce classified it as a favor for Washington and said it answered the “calls from US companies and consumers”.

However, the Trump administration claims that it is Chinese officials who “want to do a lot of business” because “their economy breaks down”.

“You said we initiated? Well, I think you should go back and study your files,” said Trump in the White House on Wednesday.

But when the conversations came closer, the president made a more diplomatic note: “We can play all games. Who made the first call to do that – it doesn't matter,” he told reporters on Thursday. “It is only important what happens in this room.”

Timing is also the key to Beijing because it is in Moscow during the visit to XI. On Friday he was a guest of honor at the Victory Day Parade of Moscow to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Second World War against Nazi Germany.

XI stood with managers from the entire global south – a memory of Trump's government that China not only has other trading opportunities, but is also an alternative global guide.

This enables Beijing to project strength, even if it goes into the negotiating table.

Trump insists that the tariffs will make America stronger, and Beijing swore to “fight to the end”- but the fact is that the taxes violate both countries.

According to the government data, the factory production in China has scored a goal. The manufacturing activities in April have had the lowest level since December 2023. A survey by New Outlet Caixin showed that the activities of the services have reached a low point of seven months.

The BBC found that the Chinese exporters got off the steep tariffs, with the inventory piling up in camps, even if they hit a defiant note and search for markets beyond the USA.

“I find [China] Recognizes that a deal is better than no business, ”says Bert Hofman, professor at the East Asian Institute in National University Singapore.

“So you took a pragmatic view and said: 'Ok, we have to get these conversations going.'”

And so the officers in Beijing decided with the big holiday in China in China that the time to speak.

On the other hand, the uncertainty caused by tariffs for the first time in three years that the US economy put together for the first time.

And industries that have been dependent on goods produced by Chinia for a long time are particularly concerned. The BBC announced that a Toy Company owner from Los Angeles said that they “look at the entire implosion of the supply chain”.

Trump himself recognized that the US consumers will feel the stitch.

American children could “have two dolls instead of 30 dolls,” he said in a cabinet seat this month, “and maybe the two dolls cost a few dollars more than normally”.

Trump's approval ratings have also slipped due to fear of inflation and a possible recession, with more than 60% of the Americans to concentrate too much on tariffs.

“Both countries feel the pressure to offer the increasingly nervous markets, companies and domestic constituencies,” says Olson.

“A few days of meetings in Geneva will serve this purpose.”

While the conversations have come with optimism, a deal can take a while for the material.

The conversations are mainly about “touching the basis”, said Hofman, adding that this could look like an “exchange of positions” and if things go well, an agenda [will be] Set for future conversations “.

It is expected that negotiations will last over the entire months, similar to Trump's first term.

After almost two years of tit-for-tat tariffs, the USA and China signed a “Phase 1” contract in early 2020 to suspend or reduce some taxes. Even then, it did not include any thorny problems such as the subsidies of the Chinese government for key industries or a schedule for the scrap of the remaining tariffs.

In fact, many of them remained on the spot due to Joe Biden's presidency, and Trump's youngest tariffs contribute to these older taxes.

What could arise this time is a “phase -1 deal for steroids,” said Olson: That means it would go beyond the previous business and try to address flashpoints. There are many of the illegal fentanyl trade that Washington wants to affect China harder in Beijing's relationship with Moscow.

But all of this is far below, experts warn.

“The systemic ruffles that will not be solved as soon as the trade relationship of the US-China trade relationship,” added Mr. Olson.

“Geneva will only produce Anodyne statements about 'Frank Dialogue' and the desire to speak further.”