US-China reach historic trade deal
President Donald Trump's administration achieved a major victory for Americans over the weekend, securing a trade deal with China to lower tariffs and end retaliatory measures.
Just days after Trump announced a landmark trade deal with the United Kingdom, the White House revealed a new trade agreement with China, finalized after successful talks in Geneva, Switzerland.
The White House said both the United States and China “affirmed the importance of the critical bilateral economic and trade relationship between both countries and the global economy.”
“For too long, unfair trade practices and America’s massive trade deficit with China have fueled the offshoring of American jobs and the decline of our manufacturing sector,” the White House noted.
Under the agreement, the U.S. and China will each lower tariffs by 115% while retaining an additional 10% tariff. The actions will go into effect by May 14.
The United States and China also agreed to continue discussions related to trade and economics.
“The U.S. goods trade deficit with China was $295.4 billion in 2024 — the largest with any trading partner. Today’s agreement works toward addressing these imbalances to deliver real, lasting benefits to American workers, farmers, and businesses,” the White House said.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent praised the negotiations with China in Switzerland as “productive.”
U.S. Trade Representative Ambassador Jamieson Greer echoed Bessent’s views, saying, “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,” Greer continued. “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.”
