White House Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Stephen Miran argued the United States has “leverage” over China ahead of the upcoming negotiations between the two countries, which are being held this weekend.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer will meet with top Chinese officials in Switzerland. The meeting comes after the U.S. implemented a 145% tariff against China.

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While appearing on Fox News’s The Story with Martha MacCallum, Miran explained that China’s economy is based on exporting goods to consumers in the U.S., which is both the “biggest” and “most reliable” consumer-base in the world.

“So there is no substitute, and this is why the United States has the leverage in this situation and exactly why the president has decided to start putting American workers on fairer ground visa vie our trading partners like China because he knows the United States has leverage like this,” Miran said.

Miran also cited how President Donald Trump succeeded in negotiating his “Phase One” deal with China during the president’s first term in 2020 despite many people expressing doubt Trump could achieve such a deal. As such, he contended that the president and his negotiation skills are likely to succeed in achieving a new deal with China on trade. 

When asked about either inflation or unemployment going up over the next three months, Miran argued that Trump has stated that there may be some “disruptions” in trade. However, he contended that such disruptions would be “temporary” since the U.S. would increase production stateside, but such production cannot be fixed “overnight.”

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Trump revealed on Wednesday that he has no plans to drop the tariff rate on China despite Beijing’s request. China responded to the U.S.’s 145% tariff against it by implementing a 125% retaliatory tariff.

Last month, Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH) argued that China is a massive exporter of goods and needs other countries in order for its economy to succeed. Because of this, he predicted that growing unemployment could give the U.S. a key advantage in its negotiations.