The Trump Administration is making progress in trade talks with China.
Over the weekend, President Trump and members of his administration confirmed that talks between the U.S. and China in Geneva regarding the ongoing trade war went well.
Under the 90-day true agreement, the US will drop its 145% tariff rate on Chinese goods to 30%, while China will lower its rate from 125% down to just 10%, officials said.
“The consensus from both delegations this weekend is neither side wants a decoupling,” US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said after the high-stakes talks with Chinese officials in Switzerland.
“And what had occurred with these very high tariff … was an embargo, the equivalent of an embargo. And neither side wants that. We do want trade.”
“We want more balanced trade. And I think that both sides are committed to achieving that,” he added.
Watch Bessent’s comments below:
The U.S. and China have agreed to a 90-day trade truce. The U.S. will reduce tariffs on Chinese goods to 30% (from 145%), and China will lower its tariffs to 10% (from 125%) for the same period, as stated by U.S. Treasury Secretary Bessent. pic.twitter.com/ci6H1oBUY1
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) May 12, 2025
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt released a joint statement on the U.S.-China Economic and Trade Meeting in Geneva:
The Government of the United States of America (the “United States”) and the Government of the People’s Republic of China (“China”),
Recognizing the importance of their bilateral economic and trade relationship to both countries and the global economy;
Recognizing the importance of a sustainable, long-term, and mutually beneficial economic and trade relationship;
Reflecting on their recent discussions and believing that continued discussions have the potential to address the concerns of each side in their economic and trade relationship; and
Moving forward in the spirit of mutual opening, continued communication, cooperation, and mutual respect;
The Parties commit to take the following actions by May 14, 2025:
The United States will (i) modify the application of the additional ad valorem rate of duty on articles of China (including articles of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the Macau Special Administrative Region) set forth in Executive Order 14257 of April 2, 2025, by suspending 24 percentage points of that rate for an initial period of 90 days, while retaining the remaining ad valorem rate of 10 percent on those articles pursuant to the terms of said Order; and (ii) removing the modified additional ad valorem rates of duty on those articles imposed by Executive Order 14259 of April 8, 2025 and Executive Order 14266 of April 9, 2025.
China will (i) modify accordingly the application of the additional ad valorem rate of duty on articles of the United States set forth in Announcement of the Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council No. 4 of 2025, by suspending 24 percentage points of that rate for an initial period of 90 days, while retaining the remaining additional ad valorem rate of 10 percent on those articles, and removing the modified additional ad valorem rates of duty on those articles imposed by Announcement of the Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council No. 5 of 2025 and Announcement of the Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council No. 6 of 2025; and (ii) adopt all necessary administrative measures to suspend or remove the non-tariff countermeasures taken against the United States since April 2, 2025.
After taking the aforementioned actions, the Parties will establish a mechanism to continue discussions about economic and trade relations. The representative from the Chinese side for these discussions will be He Lifeng, Vice Premier of the State Council, and the representatives from the U.S. side will be Scott Bessent, Secretary of the Treasury, and Jamieson Greer, United States Trade Representative. These discussions may be conducted alternately in China and the United States, or a third country upon agreement of the Parties. As required, the two sides may conduct working-level consultations on relevant economic and trade issues.
🚨Joint Statement on U.S.-China Economic and Trade Meeting in Geneva https://t.co/YOWhxy8CxE
— Karoline Leavitt (@PressSec) May 12, 2025
