Chinese and US officials meet in Geneva for 'de-escalation' trade talks

Senior US and Chinese officials held talks early on Saturday in Geneva in a tentative first step towards defusing a trade war that is disrupting the global economy, according to China's state-owned news agency and people close to the talks. China's vice premier, He Lifeng, and the US treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, met after weeks of growing tensions that have seen duties on goods imports between the world's two largest economies rise above 100%. The trade dispute, combined with the decision from the US president, Donald Trump, last month to impose duties on dozens of other countries, has disrupted supply…