US-China trade deal finalised? Trump’s trade representative says Geneva talks ‘productive,’ ‘substantial progress’ made
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said on Sunday (May 11) that they reached “substantial progress” in high-stakes talks with China amid ongoing trade war. They also said that a deal with China has been reached to cut the trade deficit, but offered no details as two days of negotiations concluded in Geneva. Bessent and Greer did not mention any plans to cut US tariffs of 145% on Chinese goods and China’s 125% tariffs on US goods.
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What the US said?
Greer said that the talks were “constructive”. “It was done in a spirit of cooperation, shared interests, mutual respect,” US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent tells reporters in Geneva.
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.
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. He called Vice Premier He, Vice Commerce Minister Li Chenggang and Vice Finance Minister Liao Min “tough negotiators.”
“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.
What China said?
Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng said that Beijing and Washington had agreed during weekend talks in Geneva to create a “consultation mechanism”, as they strive to de-escalate trade tensions. Speaking to reporters in Geneva, He Lifeng said that the closed-door discussions with US Treasury Secretary Bessent and Trade Representative Greer resulted in agreement on “establishing a consultation mechanism”. China’s international trade representative Li Chenggang explained the mechanism would enable “regular and irregular communications related to trade and commercial issues”.
US-China Trade War
The meeting was the first face-to-face interaction between senior American and Chinese economic officials since Trump took office and launched a global tariff blitz that started with declaring a national emergency over the U.S. fentanyl crisis, imposing a new 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.
This development comes after Trump said on Friday that an 80% tariff on Chinese goods “seems right,” suggesting for the first time a specific reduction target.
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