The meetings in Geneva over the May 10-11 weekend between U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and China’s Vice Commerce Minister Li Chenggang reached an agreement to establish a 90-day easing of tariffs while further discussions take place for a more permanent agreement. President Trump this morning at the White House praised the accord, saying that he plans to speak with Chinese President Xi Jinping by the end of this week. He said that the United States is “not looking to harm China.”
In the agreement, the U.S. will lower tariffs to 30% from the massive 134% level set over past weeks, while China will reduce their tariffs to 10%, and Beijing will also ease non-tariff measures, such as export controls on U.S. goods, according to media. The new policies will be effective from May 14, and Washington and Beijing will create a consultation mechanism to work out further trade policy steps. They issued a “Joint Statement on U.S.-China Economic and Trade Meeting in Geneva.”
