The United States and China reached a first agreement on duties finding an agreement to establish a “consultation mechanism” on trade. The announcement came at the end of the two -day negotiating marathon in Geneva, in the House of the Swiss Ambassador to the United Nations, and the details will be disclosed with a joint press release tomorrow.
That the negotiations were moving in the right direction had appeared clearly by the optimism left to leak from Donald Trump and by the Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. Both praised the “substantial progress” accomplished, with the president who went to talk about “a total reset negotiated in a friendly but constructive way”. The representative to trade Jamieson Greer He was more explicit and suggested, without entering the contents and details, vaguely the possibility of an “understanding”. His words preceded a note from the White House entitled The “United States announce a commercial agreement with China” by reporting the statements of Beesent and Greer in Geneva.
It was China who clarified the vice premier He lifeng who spoke of an agreement to establish a “consultation mechanism” on trade to allow “regular and irregular exchanges relating to commercial issues”. The words of He Lifeng were the first Beijing officers on the meetings of the weekend and followed the statements of the Chinese Foreign Foreign Minister’s assistant Miao Deyu Which, in the middle of the negotiations, reiterated Beijing’s official position on rates.
The American approach “sacrifices the legitimate interests of countries around the world in favor of hegemonic interests”, he said by specifying once again that China “opposes the imposition of ‘mutual duties’ and has adopted energetic legal measures to contrast them firmly”, aiming to protect “with their own development interests and favor” international equity and justice “,. The agreement is now being examined by observers and analysts To understand if, beyond the words, there are really contained able to defuse a dangerous commercial war from the heavy consequences for the world economy, as shown by tensions on financial markets and the succession of alarms for a possible recession.
Since his second term began, Trump has imposed duties at 145% against Made in China and Beijing has responded with rates of 125% on American products, creating a difficult situation. For the States, in fact, if the rates continue a prolonged period at this level, the risk would be that of empty shelves and price increases, while for China the danger would be that of a further weakening of its economic. Before the Swiss carrier, the American president opened to the possibility of 80% duties to China in an attempt – according to rumors – to facilitate Beesent’s work in trying to relaunch commercial relations and check an agreement with which Beijing reduces the rates against Made in America.