The Swiss Geneva is the venue for this weekend's tariff talks. On one side of the negotiating table, among others, US Finance Minister Scott Bessent, on the other, China's Vice Premier He Lifeng.
Prior to this weekend's negotiations, Trump has made a statement on Truth Social, where he opens up to lowering tariffs against China compared to the 145 percent that currently applies.
China should open up its market to the US, it would be so good for their part. Closed markets no longer work," Trump adds.
Prior to the meeting, there have been reports of even larger reductions than to 80 percent.
According to reports to the news agency Bloomberg, the US and Donald Trump are willing to go down to 60 percent, a level that China is expected to be interested in matching. In that case, the new levels can be introduced as early as next week, Bloomberg reports.
More reductions
The New York Post reports simultaneously that the Trump administration is willing to reduce tariffs to 50-54 percent from the current level of 145 percent.
They will lower tariffs to 50 percent while the negotiations are ongoing, sources tell the New York Post.
At the same time, several other Asian countries will have their tariffs lowered to 25 percent, the newspaper reports.
It was the country that Trump chose to go hardest against in connection with the so-called "Liberation Day", the day he launched the new tariffs at a press conference outside the White House. This has triggered counter-reactions from the Chinese side, and Scott Bessent has described the current levels as "unsustainable".
Affects the US
According to various assessments, the current tariff levels risk implying that the US GDP growth will decrease by around 2.9 percent. At the same time, the US is expected to experience a sharp increase in inflation in the coming years, which would be a blow to American households.
In addition to changed tariff levels, the US is now said to want to negotiate the removal of restrictions on China when it comes to the export of rare earth metals used in the manufacture of magnets, according to Bloomberg.
