US and China announce trade deal in Geneva following high-stakes talks
US treasury secretary Scott Bessent and trade representative Jamieson Greer said on Sunday they reached a deal with China to cut the US trade deficit, describing 'substantial progress' in high-stakes talks with Chinese officials but offering no details as two days of negotiations concluded in Geneva.
Mr Bessent told reporters that details would be announced on Monday and that US president Donald Trump was fully aware of the results of the 'productive talks' with Chinese vice-premier He Lifeng and two Chinese vice-ministers.
Mr Bessent and Mr Greer did not mention any plans to cut US tariffs of 145 per cent on Chinese goods or China's 125 per cent tariffs on US goods. The US treasury chief has said previously that these duties amount to a trade embargo between the world's two largest economies and need to be 'de-escalated'.
Mr Greer described the Geneva meetings' conclusion as 'a deal we struck with our Chinese partners' that will help reduce the $1.2 trillion US global goods trade deficit.
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'And this was, as the secretary pointed out, a very constructive two days,' Mr 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.'
The meeting was the first face-to-face interaction between senior US and Chinese economic officials since Mr Trump took office and launched a global tariff blitz that started with declaring a national emergency over the US fentanyl crisis, imposing a new 20 per cent tariff on Chinese goods in February.
The US president followed with a 34 per cent '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.
China had insisted that tariffs be lowered in any talks. Mr Trump said on Friday that an 80 per cent tariff on Chinese goods 'seems right', suggesting for the first time a specific reduction target.
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US-China negotiators prepare to lock horns in first post-tariff meeting
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Mr 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 Mr Trump declared over growing US trade deficits.
'We're confident that the deal we struck with our Chinese partners will help us to work toward resolving that national emergency,' Mr Greer said.
– Reuters
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