Following two days of talks between U.S. and Chinese trade officials, the Trump administration said Sunday that a trade deal had been reached.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Ambassador Jamieson Greer traveled to Switzerland over the weekend, emerging on Sunday from a round of negotiations to tell reporters that the talks had yielded positive results. They declined to provide details about the terms of the prospective agreement.
“I’m happy to report that we made substantial progress between the United States and China in the very important trade talks,” Bessent said, thanking the Swiss government for providing a venue for the meetings.
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On Monday morning, the two sides revealed an agreement to drastically roll back tariffs on each other’s goods by 115 percent for an initial 90-day period. This brings the duty on exports from China down from 145 percent to 30 percent and those going from the U.S. to China down to 10 percent.
“This was, as the Secretary pointed out, a very constructive two days. It’s important to understand how quickly we were able to come to agreement, which reflects that perhaps the differences were not so large as maybe thought,” Greer said in a separate statement.
“That being said, there was a lot of groundwork that went into these two days,” he added. “Just remember why we’re here in the first place—the United States has a massive $1.2 trillion trade deficit, so the President declared a national emergency and imposed tariffs, and we’re confident that the deal we struck with our Chinese partners will help us to work toward resolving that national emergency.”
Leading China’s delegation was Vice Premier He Lifeng, who told reporters that the meeting with Greer and Bessent “achieved substantial progress and reached important consensus.”
The two countries have now “agreed on establishing a consultation mechanism for trade and economic issues, identify the lead persons on each side and will carry on further consultations relating to trade and economic issues of their respective concerns,” he said, adding, “The two sides will finalize relevant details as soon as possible.”
Heading into the weekend, President Donald Trump said he was not willing to concede to a lower duty rate as a means of fostering goodwill between the two nations in advance of the negotiations. Trump levied triple-digit duties on China-made goods and services in early April, raising the tariff rate several times before landing on 145 percent. China retaliated with 125-percent tariffs on American-made imports.
On Sunday, the president Truthed his support for the deal, which many believe will involve a substantial lowering of tariffs and trade barriers on both sides.
“A very good meeting today with China, in Switzerland. Many things discussed, much agreed to,” he wrote. “A total reset negotiated in a friendly, but constructive, manner. We want to see, for the good of both China and the U.S., an opening up of China to American business. GREAT PROGRESS MADE!!!”
