U.S., China Reach Trade Agreement; Details Coming Monday
By Alan Wooten | The Center Square
(Worthy News) – Market implications are expected Monday morning worldwide following Sunday’s announcement of a trade agreement between the United States and China.
No details were announced between countries doing an estimated $600 billion in trade annually. The two superpowers have sparred since President Donald Trump’s January inauguration and subsequent tariff implementations coupled with China’s retaliations.
The deal – how comprehensive is unknown, and may be elusive in Monday’s announcement – was reached in Geneva, Switzerland. Tariffs between the countries have escalated to 145% from America on Chinese imports, and 125% from China on American imports.
“We will be giving details tomorrow, but I can tell you that the talks were productive,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a Sunday afternoon statement released by the White House.
The strength of economies created a natural resilience between the countries, China saying it would not be bullied and Trump saying America would be first. This calendar year, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 3%, the S&P 500 Index is down 3.8% and the Nasdaq Composite Index is down 7.2%.
Regardless of how detailed an agreement is announced, analysts collectively forecast market tensions to persist.
Following Trump’s Liberation Day moves on April 2, American businesses reported negative impact in the near-term which the president said would later turn positive. Reports say contraction in China’s manufacturing sector was the fastest rate since February 2024.
“We had the vice premier, two vice ministers, who were integrally involved, Ambassador Jamieson, and myself,” Bessent said. “And I spoke to President Trump, as did Ambassador Jamieson, last night, and he is fully informed of what is going on. So, there will be a complete briefing tomorrow morning.”
Bessent and Trade Ambassador Jamieson Greer said the meetings were “constructive” and Swiss hosts were instrumental in helping move things along.
“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 in the White House statement. “That being said, there was a lot of groundwork that went into these two days.”
And he added, “Just remember why we’re here in the first place – the United States has a massive $1.2 trillion trade deficit, so the president declared a national emergency and imposed tariffs, and we’re confident that the deal we struck with our Chinese partners will help us to work toward resolving that national emergency.”
Vice Premier He Lifeng led Chinese representation in the meetings with Bessent and Greer.
Late Saturday, Trump on social media said the conversations were going well and agreements on many areas were coming into place. He called it a “total reset.”
According to the Peterson Institute for International Economics, tariffs by China on American products and America on Chinese products was 21.5% or lower from January 2018 until this year. Since Feb. 4, China has four times retaliated against imposed U.S. tariff increases. Chinese tariffs on U.S. exports have gone from 6.5% in January seven years ago to 147.6%, and U.S. tariffs on Chinese exports have gone, respectively, from 10.3% to 124.1%, the institute says.
Before the weekend, Trump was said to be considering lowering the tariffs to 80%.