U.S. and China cite ‘substantial progress' in Geneva trade talks

Japan Times

11-05-2025

The U.S. and China ended high-stakes trade talks on a positive note on Sunday, with U.S. officials touting a "deal" to reduce the U.S. trade deficit, while Chinese officials said the sides had reached "important consensus" and agreed to launch another new economic dialogue forum.
Neither side released details after they wrapped up two days of talks in Switzerland. Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng said a joint statement would be released in Geneva on Monday. Vice Commerce Minister Li Chenggang said it would contain "good news for the world."
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer described "substantial progress" and also said details would be announced on Monday.
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In separate briefings with reporters, neither side mentioned any agreement to cut U.S. tariffs of 145% on Chinese goods and China's 125% tariffs on U.S. goods.
Greer and Bessent took no questions from reporters. The U.S. Treasury chief has said previously that these duties amount to a trade embargo between the world's two largest economies and need to be "deescalated."
Financial markets have been on edge for signs of a thaw in a bitter U.S.-China trade war that has already begun to disrupt supply chains, prompt layoffs and raise wholesale prices.
Greer described the Geneva meetings' conclusion as "a deal we struck with our Chinese partners" that will help reduce the $1.2 trillion U.S. global goods trade deficit.
"And this was, as the secretary pointed out, a very constructive two days," Greer said. "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.
The U.S. trade chief called He, Li and Vice Finance Minister Liao Min "tough negotiators."
Vice Premier He, speaking to reporters at China's mission to World Trade Organization, described the talks as "candid, in-depth and constructive" on issues of concern to both countries.
"The meeting achieved substantial progress, and reached important consensus," He said, drawing applause from a large audience of Chinese officials present at the WTO office.
He also met with WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who said she was "pleased with the positive outcome" of the talks and urged the two countries to build on momentum to mitigate trade tensions.
The WTO has ruled against Trump's past tariffs on Chinese goods, but the cases have been stalled in the WTO's paralyzed appellate body due to the U.S. blocking judge appointments.
The U.S. and China agreed to establish a new consultation mechanism for trade and economic issues, with relevant details to be finalized as soon as possible, He added.
China and the U.S. have convened numerous consultation bodies to try to resolve trade and economic differences in recent decades, including the Economic Working Group that former president Joe Biden's Treasury secretary, Janet Yellen, established with Vice Premier He in 2023.
These dialogues have provided forums for airing bilateral grievances, but have done little to advance Washington's longstanding goal to shift China's state dominated, export-driven economic model toward one driven by consumer spending.
The meeting was the first face-to-face interaction between senior U.S. and Chinese economic officials since Trump took office and launched a global tariff blitz, declaring a national emergency over the U.S. fentanyl crisis and imposing a 20% tariff on Chinese goods in February.
Trump followed with a 34% "reciprocal" duty on Chinese imports in April, and subsequent rounds pushed the rates into triple digits, bringing nearly $600 billion in two-way trade to a standstill.
Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng attends a meeting with global business leaders at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on March 28. |
REUTERS
China had insisted that tariffs be lowered in any talks. Trump said on Friday that an 80% tariff on Chinese goods "seems right," suggesting for the first time a specific reduction target.
Greer said there was a lot of groundwork done before the Geneva meetings on Saturday and Sunday, and that the result would address the national emergency that Trump declared over growing U.S. trade deficits.
"We're confident that the deal we struck with our Chinese partners will help us to work toward resolving that national emergency," Greer said.
A White House press release that simply repeated Bessent's and Greer's brief comments with no details ran the headline: "U.S. announces China trade deal in Geneva."
Earlier on Sunday, White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said the Chinese were "very, very eager" to engage in discussions and rebalance trade relations with the U.S.
Hassett also told Fox News' Sunday Morning Futures program that more foreign trade deals could be coming with other countries as soon as this week. Last week's limited trade deal with Britain left 10% U.S. duties in place on many U.K. products.
Hassett said he had been briefed by U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on two dozen pending deals in development with USTR Greer.
"They all look a little bit like the U.K. deal but each one is bespoke," Hassett said.
Overnight, Trump gave a positive reading of the talks, saying on his Truth Social media platform that the two sides had negotiated "a total reset ... in a friendly, but constructive, manner."
The teams met at the gated villa of Switzerland's U.N. ambassador, overlooking Lake Geneva in the leafy suburb of Cologny. Black Mercedes vans with sirens shuttled to and from the venue, bathed in bright sunshine.
Neutral Switzerland was chosen as the venue following approaches by Swiss politicians on recent visits to China and the U.S.
"It's definitely encouraging," Asia Society Policy Institute vice president Wendy Cutler said after the talks had concluded.
"The two sides spent over 15 hours in discussions," she said. "That's a long time for two countries to be meeting, and I view that as positive."
The fact the talks are even happening "is good news for business, and for the financial markets", Gary Hufbauer, a senior nonresident fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, said in an interview while the talks were ongoing.
But Hufbauer cautioned he was "very skeptical that there will be any return to something like normal U.S.-China trade relations". Even a tariff rate of 70-80% would still potentially halve bilateral trade, he said.
"The devil will be in the details," said ASPI's Cutler. "Without the details, it's hard to assess whether the meeting was successful or not."
Washington is seeking to reduce its $295 billion goods trade deficit with Beijing and persuade China to renounce what Washington calls a mercantilist economic model, a shift that would require politically sensitive domestic reforms.