The United States and China reached an agreement over the weekend to decrease escalating tariff rates the two countries had placed upon each other in recent months, according to a White House briefing released Monday.
As part of the agreement, the U.S. will pause for 90 days the 34% tariff on imports from China that President Donald Trump first announced April 2. The U.S. will also lift additional duties it subsequently levied that raised the combined tariff burden on goods from China to at least 145%.
During the pause, the U.S. will instead charge a 10% tariff on imports from China while maintaining duties it installed prior to April 2, including those enacted under Section 301, Section 232 and the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
In return, China will also pause a matching 34% tariff on U.S. goods for 90 days in favor of a 10% duty while rescinding all other levies it has enacted on the U.S. since April 2.
Both countries will implement the pause and other agreed-upon actions by May 14.
“I’m happy to report that we made substantial progress between the United States and China in the very important trade talks,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement Sunday.
“The move meets the expectation of producers and consumers in both countries, serves the interests of both sides and the common interests of the world,” a spokesperson for the China Ministry of Commerce said in a statement, per a translation by the South China Morning Post.
During the 90-day pause, the two countries will engage in further economic and trade discussions, per the White House. Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, who both met with China officials in Switzerland over the weekend, will lead the discussions for the United States.
“This was, as the Secretary pointed out, a very constructive two days,” Greer said in a statement Sunday. “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.”
“We hope that the US side will build on the meeting, continue to work with China in the same direction, completely rectify its wrong practice of unilateral tariff hikes, keep strengthening mutually beneficial cooperation, maintain the sound, stable and sustainable development of China-US trade and economic relations, and jointly inject more certainty and stability into the world economy,” the spokesperson for the China Ministry of Commerce said, per a translation by the South China Morning Post.
