US announces trade deal with China; details to be released today

The United States late on Sunday announced a trade deal with China. US Secretary of the Treasury, Scott Bessent, in a statement said the trade talks held in Geneva were productive without giving any details.

“I’m happy to report that we made substantial progress between the United States and China in the very important trade talks. First, I want to thank our Swiss host. The Swiss government has been very kind in providing us this wonderful venue, and I think that led to a great deal of productivity we’ve seen. We will be giving details tomorrow, but I can tell you that the talks were productive. We had the vice premier, two vice ministers, who were integrally involved, Ambassador Jamieson, and myself. 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 said.

The US currently imposes 145% tariffs on Chinese goods while China levies 125% tariffs on US goods.

Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng said a joint statement would be released in Geneva on Monday.

There was a lot of groundwork that went into these two days of talks, said US Trade Representative Ambassador Jamieson Greer. “This was, as the Secretary pointed out, a very constructive two days. 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. That being said, there was a lot of groundwork that went into these two days. 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,” said Greer.

According to the office of the United States Trade Representative, US total goods trade with China were an estimated $582.4 billion in 2024. US goods exports to China in 2024 were $143.5 billion, down 2.9% ($4.2 billion) from 2023. U.S. goods imports from China in 2024 totaled $438.9 billion, up 2.8% ($12.1 billion) from 2023. The U.S. goods trade deficit with China was $295.4 billion in 2024, a 5.8% increase ($16.3 billion) over 2023.