Top Trump administration officials announced on Sunday that the United States and China have reached a preliminary trade agreement aimed at de-escalating a long-standing tariff dispute between the world’s two largest economies.
Negotiations were held over the weekend in Geneva, Switzerland, where U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng convened for high-level talks. While the full agreement details remain under wraps, officials stated that more information would be released on Monday.
“The U.S. has a massive $1.2 trillion trade deficit, so the President declared a national emergency,” Greer said. “We’re confident that the deal we’ve struck with our Chinese partners will help us work toward resolving that national emergency.”
The trade standoff has seen the Trump administration impose tariffs as high as 145% on a range of Chinese imports, prompting Beijing to retaliate with tariffs on American goods. Despite these sharp measures, both sides have now signalled a willingness to move towards a resolution.
Bessent described the weekend negotiations as “productive,” hinting that the two-day talks made significant headway. “It’s important to understand how quickly we were able to come to [an agreement], which reflects that perhaps the differences were not as large as maybe thought,” Greer added.
The announcement follows closely on the heels of the Trump administration unveiling a separate trade framework with the United Kingdom, highlighting a broader push to reset global trade relations during Trump’s second term.
China, currently America’s third-largest trading partner, has been a frequent target of criticism from President Trump.
The administration has long accused Beijing of currency manipulation, intellectual property theft, forced technology transfers, and the export of illicit drugs such as fentanyl. Some U.S. estimates have pegged the annual cost of Chinese IP theft at between $225 billion and $600 billion.
In 2023, the U.S. recorded a $295.4 billion trade deficit with China — a figure Trump has repeatedly cited as a driving force behind his aggressive trade policies.
Earlier in his second term, the president imposed a 20% tariff on Chinese imports in a bid to address the fentanyl crisis. On “Liberation Day,” he went further, announcing a wave of “reciprocal” tariffs on Beijing, which led to immediate retaliation from China.
Despite years of economic brinkmanship, the Geneva negotiations appear to have yielded promising results. Administration officials claim the speed of the agreement demonstrates that a workable path forward may finally be within reach.
