United States and China on Monday reached an agreement to temporarily reduce the tariffs they have imposed on each other in an attempt to deescalate their ongoing trade war.
In a joint statement, the countries said they would suspend their respective tariffs for 90 days while they negotiate. Under the agreement, the United States would reduce the tariff on Chinese imports to 30 percent from its current 145 percent, while China would lower its import duty on American goods to 10 percent from 125 percent.
“We concluded that we have a shared interest,” said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent at a news conference in Geneva where U.S. and Chinese officials met over the weekend. “The consensus from both delegations is that neither side wanted a decoupling,” he said.
While the Trump administration had declared on Sunday that it reached a “deal” with China after trade talks, the details of that agreement were not announced until Monday. Chinese officials had also said the talks, over weekend meetings, achieved substantial progress.
