The president said reducing tariffs to 80 percent from the current 145 percent “sounds right,” as U.S. and Chinese negotiators prepare to meet in Switzerland.

China and the United States start their first major Trade War Two meeting on Saturday to pull back from what analysts describe as a lose-lose situation for their economies, without much clarity on what a win would look like for either side.

The way President Donald Trump sees it, beating China in a trade war should be easy. After all, his logic goes, the Chinese sell Americans three times as much stuff as Americans sell them. Therefore,