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The US-China trade war could be easing, with the world’s two largest economies set to begin talks in Switzerland.
Top trade officials from both sides will meet on Saturday in the first high-level meeting since US President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on China in January.
Beijing retaliated immediately, leading to a tense stand-off as the two countries heaped levies on each other. These tariffs now stand at 125%, although some Chinese imports to the US face duties as high as 245%.
For weeks, stern and sometimes fiery rhetoric has flowed between the two powers, with each side attempting to portray the other as the more desperate party.
Yet this weekend, they will face each other across the negotiating table.
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But why are both sides talking now?
Despite multiple rounds of tit-for-tat tariffs, both sides have been sending signals that they want to break the deadlock. The question was who would blink first.
“Neither side wants to appear to be backing down,” said Stephen Olson, senior visiting fellow at Singapore’s ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute and a former US trade negotiator.
“The talks are taking place now because both countries have judged that they can move forward without appearing to have caved in to the other side.”
Nevertheless, China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian emphasised on Wednesday that “the talks are being held at the request of the US”.
The commerce ministry framed it as a favour to Washington, saying it was answering the “calls of US businesses and consumers”.
The Trump administration, however, claims it is Chinese officials who “want to do business very much” because “their economy is collapsing”.
“They said we initiated? Well, I think they ought to go back and study their files,” Trump said at the White House on Wednesday.
