First talks between the euclidean and western economies of the world: The case for a lasting trade deal between the U.S. and China

“Now the chance has been taken by China and the U.S.,” Keller-Sutter told NPR. The world economy and world commerce would be in the interest of this platform, so we hope it leads to a result.

In the meantime, Swiss President Karin Keller-Sutter said, her country was happy to help facilitate dialogue between the two global economic superpowers, at a moment when the anticipated impacts of tariffs have weighed heavily on stock prices and economic forecasts alike.

Bessent said he was only in Geneva to look at an updated trading arrangement with Swiss authorities. They told reporters that they hoped to have their own agreement with Washington within a few weeks.

Bessent believes that China is the missing piece, as he stated in a recent interview on Fox News.

The United Kingdom became the first country to strike a limited trade deal with the Trump administration on the eve of the discussions of significant economic significance, despite the tariffs on most British exports still being in place.

The talks are being held at a grand hilltop villa with sweeping views of Lake Geneva used by Switzerland’s ambassador to the United Nations. The talks began Saturday and no public statements have been issued by either side.

The United States and China’s trade teams ended two days of talks in Switzerland on a positive note.

The meetings in a Swiss city known for its discretion and conflict resolution represent the first attempts to end a trade war that has caused millions of dollars’ worth of import disruption across the United States and China.

The Chinese have not confirmed that He Lifeng, the country’s vice premier for economic affairs, is a participant in the US delegation.

The current iteration of the trade war will make the two delegations unhappy, according to the Executive Director of the Geneva Trade Platform think tank.

“This is going to be the first steps in a dance where they try to feel out: ‘OK, what would a win for you look like, and is that a price we’re willing to pay,’ while trying to communicate the same thing in the other direction,” he said.

The initial set of conversations may herald the start of a months long marathon of negotiations, according to a former diplomat and trade negotiator for Australia.

United States Trade Secretary Scott Bessent meets with Swiss officials: “An important progress” and “a positive tone” from a “remarkable” Chinese official

When he arrived in Geneva on Friday, Bessent had met with senior Swiss officials including Keller-Sutter. She told him she hoped the Holy Spirit that had visited Rome this past week — during the election of a new pope — might travel up to Geneva this weekend too, to help nudge things along.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday evening that the two sides had made what he called “substantial progress,” but that more details would be announced Monday.

“The atmosphere of the meeting was candid, in-depth and constructive,” he said. The meeting reached important consensus and achieved substantial progress.

One of the U.S. Trade Presentators, who joined Bessent, highlighted the speed at which both sides had found common ground.

It’s important to understand how quickly we came to an agreement. It was something, he said, which shows that the differences were not large as far as he had thought.

Several Trump administration officials still in Washington, including Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, had also spoken on television Sunday morning about the positive tone of the talks.

The man was speaking at his country’s mission to the WTO. Beijing didn’t want the trade war, but China was not afraid and would fight to the end, as senior Chinese officials have repeated several times recently.

Source: U.S. and China cite progress in trade talks but release few details

Do we need to read the tea leaves, or should we not read them? A warning warning to investors from discussing the events around the G2+1 deadline

After weeks of frazzled financial markets, investors are likely to react positively to this development as a sign that the significant disruption to trade between the two countries could soon resume, with improved economic consequences.

“I would caution against too much reading of the tea leaves,” according to Dmitry Grozoubinski, a former Australian trade negotiator based in Geneva. They probably agreed on what kind of things they should discuss, and what kind of things they should not.