The White House on Sunday confirmed that the United States and China have reached a trade agreement following two days of high-level negotiations in Geneva, facilitated by the Swiss government. While the final details of the deal are yet to be disclosed, the talks marked a major breakthrough in the ongoing efforts to ease trade tensions between the two global powers.
BREAKING: U.S. Announces China Trade Deal in Geneva pic.twitter.com/JjgvYAvAGe
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) May 11, 2025
U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent expressed optimism about the outcome, calling the discussions “productive” and stating that a full briefing would follow on Monday. “We made substantial progress between the United States and China in the very important trade talks,” Bessent said. He added that top Chinese officials, including a vice premier and two vice ministers, took part in the negotiations alongside U.S. Trade Representative Ambassador Jamieson Greer. Both Bessent and Greer briefed President Donald Trump on the developments.
Ambassador Greer, in a statement released by the White House, emphasized the swift nature of the agreement. “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,” he said. Greer also pointed to the United States’ $1.2 trillion trade deficit as the root cause of the confrontation, citing the Trump administration’s emergency declaration and subsequent tariffs as a necessary corrective measure.
The talks in Geneva followed months of an intensifying trade tensions between Washington and Beijing. In a tit-for-tat exchange, the U.S. had imposed tariffs of up to 145% on Chinese imports, prompting China to retaliate with 125% duties on American goods.
