U.S. and China find common ground in trade talks breakthrough
After two days of discussions in Switzerland, significant progress in trade negotiations between the USA and China was announced. The delegations, led by the U.S. Treasury Secretary and the Chinese Vice Premier, revealed that further details would be shared on Monday at 9:00 AM Eastern Time.
What do you need to know?
- Where were the talks held? The two-day negotiations took place in Switzerland, at the UN Ambassador's villa.
- Who participated in the talks? The delegations were led by U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng.
- What are the expectations? China expects the U.S. to reduce tariffs and specify clearly the goods it wishes to export to China.
What are the details of the negotiations?
The United States and China declared "significant progress" in negotiations regarding tariffs and the trade war. The talks in Switzerland aimed to ease trade tensions between the world's two largest economies.
"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," said Jamieson Greer, a U.S. trade representative, in a discussion with journalists.
What does "significant progress" mean?
However, during the talks, no details were provided about the potential reduction of tariffs, which are currently 145% on imported products from China and 125% on exports from the USA.
"This is a step in the right direction, showing that both sides are interested in coming to a constructive conclusion and develop a better trade relationship," said Eric Kuby, Chief Investment Officer at North Star Investment Management Corp.
The Chinese Vice Premier emphasized that the dialogue was conducted on equal terms and declared that the talks would give the global economy a "boost of stability and certainty." He also stated that Beijing is ready to intensify areas of cooperation with the USA.
China's Vice Minister of Commerce, Li Chenggang, stressed that the agreement would be in the interest of his country's development and announced that when the formal statement is published, it will contain "good news for the world."
What are the next steps?
U.S. representatives announced that more details would be provided on Monday. "I’m happy to report that we made substantial progress between the United States and China in the very important trade talks," emphasized Scott Bessent.
China hopes for a reduction of tariffs and for the U.S. to treat them as an equal partner.
