A Trump-China Trade Truce
A temporary breakthrough. And no collapse. A weekend of trade discussions between the United States and China ended with both sides temporarily slashing tariffs and agreeing to keep talking, a vast improvement over weeks of performatively shouting at each other across the Pacific Ocean.
2025-05-13 13:11:53 - VI News Staff
After Day One of the weekend discussions, President Donald Trump had announced on social media that there had been a “total reset.” He did not elaborate.
But on Monday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said the two sides had agreed to a 90-day tariff truce of sorts, with the U.S. dropping duties on Chinese goods to 30% and Beijing cutting import taxes on U.S. products to 10%.
Just as importantly, the two sides agreed to “establish a mechanism to continue discussions about economic and trade relations.” (They did so in a rare joint statement.)
Markets rejoiced, but those rates are still historically high.
The agreement may not avert some disruptions. It takes weeks for a cargo ship bound from China to reach U.S. shores. There may still be shortages and price hikes even if the truce reassures experts who had predicted a higher risk of a U.S. recession.