China and the United States have agreed to impose a 90-day moratorium on the substantial increase in import duties in mutual trade announced earlier by both sides. This was announced by US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent following the talks in Geneva.
According to him, the countries will reduce mutual duties by 115%: the United States – from 145% to 30%, and China – from 125% to 10%.
The White House said that the US and Chinese governments, recognising “the importance of bilateral economic and trade relations”, decided to reduce duties from May 14.
Markets reacted to reports of the agreements with a rise in quotations.
In April, US President Donald Trump announced the imposition of trade duties on imported goods from almost every country in the world. He subsequently suspended the imposition of tariffs on all countries, reducing the base duty to 10 per cent, making an exception only for China, for which he raised duties.
The PRC also responded by raising import tariffs.
The US administration explained the increase in duties against China by the imbalance in trade with this country, insufficient, in Washington’s opinion, efforts of Beijing to combat the export of the synthetic drug fentanyl, “disrespect that China shows to world markets”. China, for its part, said it would not make concessions and would defend its interests.