Emma Farge and Olivia Le Poidevin
GENEVA, May 12 (Reuters) – The United States and China said on Monday they have agreed a deal to slash reciprocal tariffs for now as the world’s two biggest economies seek to end a trade war that has disrupted the global outlook and set financial markets on edge.
Speaking after talks with Chinese officials in Geneva, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told reporters the two sides had agreed on a 90 day pause on measures and that tariffs would come down by over 100 percentage points to 10%.
“Both countries represented their national interest very well,” Bessent said. “We both have an interest in balanced trade, the U.S. will continue moving towards that.”
Bessent was speaking alongside U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer after the weekend talks in which both sides had hailed progress on narrowing differences.
The Geneva meetings were the first face-to-face interactions between senior U.S. and Chinese economic officials since U.S. President Donald Trump returned to power and launched a global tariff blitz, imposing particularly hefty duties on China.
Since taking office in January, Trump has hiked the tariffs paid by U.S. importers for goods from China to 145%, in addition to those he imposed on many Chinese goods during his first term and the duties levied by the Biden administration.
China hit back by putting export curbs on some rare earth elements, vital for U.S. manufacturers of weapons and electronic consumer goods, and raising tariffs on U.S. goods to 125%.More: ‘A total reset’: Trump touts ‘great progress’ in trade talks with China on tariffs
The tariff dispute brought nearly $600 billion in two-way trade to a standstill, disrupting supply chains, sparking fears of stagflation and triggering some layoffs.
Financial markets have been looking out for signs of a thaw in the trade war and Wall Street stock futures climbed and the dollar firmed against safe haven peers on Monday as the talks boosted hopes a global recession might be avoided.
(Reporting by Emma Farge and Olivia Le PoidevinEditing by Dave Graham)
