Top American and Chinese negotiators will hold discussions on tariffs in Switzerland on Saturday. They will be the first official trade talks between the two sides since US President Donald Trump imposed what he calls "reciprocal tariffs."



US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer will meet China's economic policy chief, Vice Premier He Lifeng, for two days.



In April, Washington imposed additional tariffs of 145 percent on goods from China, which hit back, raising levies on US products to 125 percent.



Beijing said it is still firmly opposed to what it calls the "US abuse of tariffs," and indicated that it would not so easily compromise.



Trump said on Truth Social on Friday that China should open its market to the US. He said, it "would be so good" for Beijing, and suggested he could lower tariffs to 80 percent.



But White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt walked this back saying, "that was a number the president threw out there."



She added that any US cuts, would require a move from China: "The president still remains with his position that he is not going to unilaterally bring down tariffs on China. We need to see concessions from them as well."



The Trump administration is also negotiating with other Asian countries, including Japan and South Korea. US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told Bloomberg News on Thursday those negotiations would take an "enormous amount of time," and are not going to be "fast deals."