The U.S. and China ended high-stakes trade talks on a positive note on Sunday, with U.S. officials touting a "deal" to reduce the U.S. trade deficit, while Chinese officials said the sides had reached "important consensus" and agreed to launch another new economic dialogue forum, APA reports citing Reuters.
Neither side released details after they wrapped up two days of talks in Switzerland. Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng said a joint statement would be released in Geneva on Monday. Vice Commerce Minister Li Chenggang said it would contain "good news for the world."
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer described "substantial progress" and also said details would be announced on Monday.
In separate briefings with reporters, neither side mentioned any agreement to cut U.S. tariffs of 145% on Chinese goods and China's 125% tariffs on U.S. goods.
Greer and Bessent took no questions from reporters. The U.S. Treasury chief has said previously that these duties amount to a trade embargo between the world's two largest economies and need to be "de-escalated."
Greer described the Geneva meetings' conclusion as "a deal we struck with our Chinese partners" that will help reduce the $1.2 trillion U.S. global goods trade deficit.
"And this was, as the secretary pointed out, a very constructive two days," Greer said. "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," Greer said.
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