Trump says “great progress” between the United States and China after the first day of trade talks

Cnn
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On Saturday, President Donald Trump said that “great progress” to trade talks between the United States and China in the middle of a possible thaw in the trade war, which was triggered by its massive tariffs.

“A very good meeting today with China in Switzerland. Many discussed things that have agreed a lot. A total reset that was negotiated in a friendly but constructive way. We want to see both China and the United States, an opening of China for American business. Made great progress !!!” Trump posted socially through the truth.

It was Trump's first comment after a day full of discussions in Geneva between US officials, including the Minister of Finance Scott Bessent and the US trade representative Jamieson Greer, and Chinese officials. A source that was informed about the meetings announced that CNN talks will continue on Sunday.

Bessent, the public asked the public at the beginning of this week not to expect a large trade agreement from the meetings, but he admitted that it was an important step in the negotiations.

Vice Premier He Lifeng heads the talks on the Chinese side, said the state broadcaster CCTV in a short report.

The Chinese state news agency Xinhua called Switzerland “an important step towards solving the problem”.

“However, an ultimate solution requires sufficient strategic patience and determination as well as the fair support of the international community,” said Xinhua.

The United States has achieved at least 145% tariff in most Chinese imports, and China reacted to most US imports with a tariff of 125%. As a result, the trade between the two sides drops strongly according to the logistics expert.

Even half of this tariff rate by half may not be enough to change the trade level significantly. Economists said that 50% was the make-or break threshold for the return of some normal business between the two countries.

On Friday, hours after Bessent and Greer on the way to Switzerland, Trump hovered the opportunity to lower the tariffs for Chinese goods to 80% and “open its market for the USA”.

“80% tariff in China seems to be right!

The combination of less goods arriving in the USA and increased costs for the arrival of imports has already started to increase prices for Americans. Goldman Sachs analysts said on Thursday that an essential level of inflation would double to 4% by the end of the year due to Trump's trade war.

And with ships that carry the goods among the 145% deaths who are now coming to the port, a trade agreement would not immediately reduce prices.

To say that the Americans depend on a large number of Chinese goods, signs how widespread they have become in everyday life. Shoes, clothes, devices, microchips, baby goods, toys, sports equipment, office machine parts and much more pour in amazing numbers from China from China to the USA.

But now these imports are taking off. According to the National Retail Federation, the imports to the USA in the second half of 2025 are expected to decrease at least 20% compared to the previous year. The decline from China will even be strong. From there, the investment bank JPmorgan expects a decline in imports by 75% to 80%.

The trade war has already influenced the US economy. The nation's gross domestic product, the largest measure of the US economy, showed the first quarterly contraction of America since the beginning of 2022, as an importer to introduce goods before the collective bargaining prices were used.

The effects of the sky -high tariffs can also be felt in China, whose exports to the United States decreased significantly in April. The Chinese outbound programs to the United States spent the last month at 33 billion US dollars -a decrease of 21% compared to $ 41.8 billion in April 2024 after a CNN calculation.

Steep US tariffs have also called for a high tribute to China's manufacturing business. Chinese factory activity in 16 months at its fastest pace, which the efforts of Beijing, the new economic incentive, were urgently recorded in April.

The news that Bessent and Greer would meet their Chinese colleagues in Geneva, hoped for a relaxation between the two nations. The United States and China are the largest and second largest economies in the world that, according to the World Bank's data, are larger than the next 20 economies.

Trump also informed a conservative radio presenter on Wednesday that he would increase the case of the detained media media -Tycoon Jimmy Lai in Hong Kong “as part of the negotiations”. Lai, a combative former publisher, whose today's boulevard Apple was a regular thorn in Beijing's side, is in the middle of a national security procedure that could send him to prison for life.

CCTV did not say whether Lai was presented in the talks.

This story has been updated with additional developments.

CNNS Fred He, Nektar Gan, David Goldman and Nathaniel Meyershn contributed to this report.