A 90-day pause in the US-China tariff war has been cautiously welcomed in China but tensions remain high, with Xi Jinping again accusing the US of “bullying”. After two days of talks between officials in Geneva over the weekend, China and the US agreed to substantially lower for the next 90 days the high tariffs each had imposed on the other in a tit-for-tat trade war. Under the agreement, US duties on Chinese goods will be lowered from 145% to 30%, while China’s retaliatory tariffs on US imports will be…
Tag: Trump tariffs
US to slash tariff on small China parcels from 120% to 54%
The US has announced it is cutting the tariff on small parcels sent from mainland China and Hong Kong to the US from 120% to 54%, hours after Washington and Beijing agreed a 90-day pause in their trade war. Donald Trump signed an executive order more than halving the levy, which was brought in at the start of this month to close the “de minimis” loophole allowing low-value goods to be sent to the US without paying any import fees. The exemption – taken from the Latin phrase for “of…
Trump risks driving Europe into China’s embrace. Xi Jinping will be delighted | Orville Schell
How does Xi Jinping view the circus Donald Trump is ring-mastering in Washington? There is no denying that the new president has created an opportunity for Xi to drive a wedge into the flank of the battered transatlantic alliance. China’s special representative to the EU optimistically described Trump’s treatment of Europeans as so “appalling” that it was likely to make them more willing to recognise Beijing’s approach to “peace, friendship, goodwill and win-win cooperation”. It was only a few months ago that Xi deserved his reputation as the world’s disruptor-in-chief.…
Brazil’s president seeks ‘indestructible’ links with China amid Trump trade war
The Brazilian president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, has heralded his desire to build “indestructible” relations with China, as the leaders of three of Latin America’s biggest economies flew to Beijing against the backdrop of Donald Trump’s trade war and the profound international uncertainty his presidency has generated. Lula touched down in China’s capital on Sunday for a four-day state visit, accompanied by 11 ministers, top politicians and a delegation of more than 150 business leaders. Hours later Colombia’s president, Gustavo Petro, arrived, making a beeline for the Great Wall…
US and China agree to lower tariffs in trade war de-escalation – video
The US and China have agreed to lower tariffs on each other’s goods substantially for 90 days following negotiations last weekend. Speaking in Geneva, the US treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, said ‘both sides will move their tariffs down by 115%’. It is a significant de-escalation in the trade war that blew up last month. Before the latest deal, the US had lifted its tariffs on China to 145% – including the 20% tariff added to tackle fentanyl imports into the US – with Beijing having retaliated with 125% tariffs on…
China and US agree 90-day pause to trade war initiated by Donald Trump
China and the US have agreed a 90-day pause to the deepening trade war that has threatened to upend the global economy, with reciprocal tariffs to be lowered by 115 percentage points. Speaking to the media after talks in Geneva, the US treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, said both sides had shown “great respect” in the negotiations. Bessent said: “The consensus from both delegations this weekend was neither side wants a decoupling.” The 90-day lowering of tariffs applies to the duties announced by Donald Trump on 2 April, which ultimately escalated…
White House claims China trade deal reached after ‘productive’ Geneva talks
The White House announced on Sunday that a trade deal with China has been struck after two days of talks in Geneva. The announcement, in a press release, comes after US treasury secretary Scott Bessent told reporters that there had been “substantial progress” in talks between his team and that of the Chinese vice-premier, He Lifeng, in Geneva on defusing the trade war between the world’s two largest economies sparked by Donald Trump’s 145% tariffs. In remarks that were posted on social media by the White House, Bessent said he…
Trump claims ‘total reset’ in US-China trade relations after tariff talks in Geneva
Donald Trump has hailed a “total reset” in US-China trade relations after the first day of talks between top American and Chinese officials in Geneva aimed at defusing a trade war sparked by his tariff rollout. The US president praised the “very good” discussions and deemed them “a total reset negotiated in a friendly, but constructive, manner”. “We want to see, for the good of both China and the U.S., an opening up of China to American business,” he posted on his Truth Social platform early on Sunday, adding: “GREAT…
Chinese and US officials meet in Geneva for ‘de-escalation’ trade talks
Senior US and Chinese officials held talks early on Saturday in Geneva in a tentative first step towards defusing a trade war that is disrupting the global economy, according to China’s state-owned news agency and people close to the talks. China’s vice premier, He Lifeng, and the US treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, met after weeks of growing tensions that have seen duties on goods imports between the world’s two largest economies rise above 100%. The trade dispute, combined with the decision from the US president, Donald Trump, last month to…
China exports beat expectations despite slump in trade with US
Chinese trade with the United States slumped in April even as its total exports beat forecasts, official figures show, as trade representatives from both nations prepared to meet this weekend in the midst of a gruelling trade war between the superpower rivals. Exports to the United States – one of China’s top trading partners – fell 17.6% in April, data showed. Against that backdrop, analysts polled by Bloomberg had expected exports to rise just 2% year-on-year last month. However they beat expectations, coming in at 8.1%. “The damage of the…