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China vows to defend 'justice' in looming trade talks with US / Photo: © AFP
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China vows to defend 'justice' in looming trade talks with US
China vowed Wednesday to defend "justice" in upcoming trade talks with the United States in Switzerland -- the two sides' first negotiations following President Donald Trump's sweeping tariff rollout that roiled global markets.
Since Trump returned to the White House in January, his administration has levied new tariffs totalling 145 percent on goods from China, with some sector-specific measures stacked on top.
Beijing retaliated by slapping 125 levies on US imports to China, along with more targeted measures.
This week's talks mark the first official public engagement between the world's two largest economies to resolve that trade war.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and US Trade Representative (USTR) Jamieson Greer will attend the talks on behalf of the United States, their offices said.
Bessent told Fox News that the sides would hold meetings on Saturday and Sunday intended to lay the groundwork for future negotiations.
"We will agree what we're going to talk about. My sense is that this will be about de-escalation, not about the big trade deal," Bessent told "The Ingraham Angle" show.
"We've got to de-escalate before we can move forward," he added.
Vice Premier He Lifeng will attend on Beijing's behalf, China's foreign ministry announced.
Beijing's commerce ministry vowed the country would "defend justice" and stand by its principles during the talks.
"If the US wants to resolve the issue through negotiations, it must face up to the serious negative impact of unilateral tariff measures on itself and the world," a ministry's spokesperson said.
"If the US talks in one way and acts in another, or even attempts to continue to coerce and blackmail China under the guise of talks, China will never agree," they added.
Beijing, the spokesperson vowed, would not "sacrifice its principled position and international fairness and justice to seek any agreement."
The USTR announced that Greer would also meet with "his counterpart from the People's Republic of China to discuss trade matters," without naming He.
The tit-for-tat tariffs have left the two nations with cripplingly high levies that have shocked financial markets and reportedly caused a sharp slowdown in bilateral trade.
"This isn't sustainable, as I have said before, especially on the Chinese side. 145 percent, 125 percent is the equivalent of an embargo. We don't want to decouple. What we want is fair trade," Bessent said.
P.Yeo--SG
