(Washington, DC) — The U.S. and China have reportedly reached a temporary agreement to pause their reciprocal tariffs for 90 days.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says the Trump administration is closing in on a trade deal with China following weekend talks in Switzerland. Reuters is reporting that the U.S. will cut extra tariffs it imposed on Chinese imports in April this year to 30%, down from 145% and Chinese duties on U.S. imports will fall to 10%, down from 125%. “Both countries represented their national interest very well,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said after talks with Chinese officials in Geneva. “We both have an interest in balanced trade, the U.S. will continue moving towards that.”
Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer met with their Chinese counterparts in Switzerland over the weekend, with Trump saying in a post on Truth Social Saturday that an opening up of China to American business is wanted “for the good of both China and the U.S.”
U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) President and CEO Dan Halstrom issued a statement early Monday in response to the news saying “USMEF greatly appreciates the efforts of U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to negotiate this agreement with their Chinese counterparts. Although this is a temporary pause, we are hopeful that it is the first step toward restoring access to China for U.S. pork and beef.”
Stock futures surged early Monday after the U.S. and China agreed to lower tariffs temporarily. As of 6:30am CST, the Dow Jones was up just over 1000 points with the NASDAQ up 800 points and the S&P 500 was up 175 points. In ag commodities, soybeans were up almost 20 cents in overnight Globex trade amid the news of a 90 day tariff pause.
