Trump officials Bessent and Greer to meet with Chinese counterparts on trade, economic issues

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. trade representative Jamieson Greer will meet with their Chinese counterparts in Switzerland this week to discuss economic and trade matters, their offices announced Tuesday.

The meetings appear to be a major step toward Washington and Beijing beginning negotiations to potentially resolve an ongoing trade war ignited by President Donald Trump.

Trump last month ratcheted up tariffs on Chinese imports to 145% even as he scaled back so-called reciprocal tariffs on almost all other U.S. trading partners. China retaliated with steep tariffs on U.S. goods.

Stock futures, which opened in the red Tuesday evening, turned sharply higher immediately following news of the meetings.

Both Bessent and Greer plan to meet with Swiss President Karin Keller-Sutter during their visit, their offices said.

"While in Switzerland, Secretary Bessent will also meet with the lead representative on economic matters from the People's Republic of China," the Treasury Department said.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry later Tuesday said that Vice Premier He Lifeng, Beijing's top official for China-U.S. economic and trade matters, will meet with Bessent in Switzerland, NBC News reported.

"Economic security is national security, and President Donald J. Trump is leading the way both at home and abroad for a stronger, more prosperous America," Bessent said in a statement.

"I look forward to productive talks as we work towards rebalancing the international economic system towards better serving the interests of the United States," Bessent said.

Greer's office said he "will also meet with his counterpart from the People's Republic of China to discuss trade matters" while in Geneva, his office said.

"At President Trump's direction, I am negotiating with countries to rebalance our trade relations to achieve reciprocity, open new markets, and protect America's economic and national security," Greer said.

"I look forward to having productive meetings with some of my counterparts as well as visiting with my team in Geneva who all work diligently to advance U.S. interests on a range of multilateral issues," Greer said.

Trump earlier Tuesday said that China wants to meet, and that the U.S. will do so "at the right time."

"They want to negotiate and they want to have a meeting and we'll be meeting with them at the right time," Trump said at the White House during a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.

Trump also expressed frustration at people "asking how many deals are you signing this week?" despite the fact that his administration had said other countries were asking for bilateral trade talks with the United States.

"Everyone says, 'When, when, when are you going to sign deals?'" Trump griped at the White House.

"We don't have to sign deals, they have to sign deals with us. They want a piece of our market. We don't want a piece of their market," Trump said.

— CNBC's Erin Doherty contributed to this report.