US and China take a step back from sky-high tariffs, agree to pause for 90 days

GENEVA AP U S and Chinese personnel announced Monday they had reached a deal to roll back largest part of their current tariffs and call a -day truce in their business war for more talks on resolving their arrangement disputes Stock markets rose sharply as the globe s two major economic powers took a step back from a clash that has unsettled the global business sector U S Commerce Representative Jamieson Greer stated the U S agreed to drop its tariff rate on Chinese goods by percentage points to while China agreed to lower its rate on U S goods by the same amount to Greer and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent disclosed the tariff reductions at a news conference in Geneva The two functionaries struck a positive tone as they disclosed the two sides had set up consultations to continue discussing their agreement issues Bessent announced at the news briefing after two days of talks that the high tariff levels would have amounted to a complete blockage of each sides goods an outcome neither side wants The consensus from both delegations this weekend is neither side wants a decoupling Bessent noted And what had occurred with these very high tariff was an embargo the equivalent of an embargo And neither side wants that We do want deal We want more balanced exchange And I think that both sides are committed to achieving that China s Commerce Ministry called the agreement an central step for the resolution of the two countries differences and declared it lays the foundation for further cooperation This initiative aligns with the expectations of producers and consumers in both countries and serves the interests of both nations as well as the common interests of the world a ministry report announced It added that China hopes the U S will stop the erroneous practice of unilateral tariff hikes and work with China to safeguard the expansion of their economic and pact relations injecting more certainty and stability into the global financial market The full impact on the complicated tariffs and other deal penalties enacted by Washington and Beijing remains unclear And much depends on whether they will find means to bridge longstanding differences during the -day suspension But as agreement envoys from the world s two biggest economies blinked finding approaches to pull back from potentially massive disruptions to world business and their own markets investors rejoiced Futures for the S P jumped and for the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up Oil prices surged more than a barrel and the U S dollar gained against the euro and the Japanese yen Jens Eskelund president of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China welcomed the news but expressed caution The tariffs only were suspended for days and there is great uncertainty over what lies ahead he mentioned in a declaration Businesses need predictability to maintain normal operations and make commitment decisions The chamber therefore hopes to see both sides continue to engage in dialogue to resolve differences and avoid taking measures that will disrupt global pact and impact in collateral damage for those caught in the cross-fire Eskelund reported Trump last month raised U S tariffs on China to a combined and China retaliated by hitting American imports with a levy Tariffs that high essentially amount to the two countries boycotting each other s products disrupting deal that last year topped billion The announcement by the U S and China sent shares surging with U S futures jumping more than Hong Kong s Hang Seng index surged nearly and benchmarks in Germany and France were both up The Trump administration has imposed tariffs on countries worldwide but its fight with China has been the bulk intense Trump s import taxes on goods from China include a charge meant to pressure Beijing into doing more to stop the flow of the synthetic opioid fentanyl into the United States The remaining involve a dispute dating back to Trump s first term and comes atop tariffs he levied on China then which means the total tariffs on particular Chinese goods can exceed GENEVA AP U S and Chinese leaders commented Monday they had reached a deal to roll back majority of of their fresh tariffs and call a -day truce in their exchange war for more talks on resolving their contract disputes Stock markets rose sharply as the globe s two major economic powers took a step back from a clash that has unsettled the global financial system U S Arrangement Representative Jamieson Greer mentioned the U S agreed to drop its tariff rate on Chinese goods by percentage points to while China agreed to lower its rate on U S goods by the same amount to Greer and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent revealed the tariff reductions at a news conference in Geneva The two leaders struck a positive tone as they declared the two sides had set up consultations to continue discussing their agreement issues Bessent noted at the news briefing after two days of talks that the high tariff levels would have amounted to a complete blockage of each sides goods an outcome neither side wants The consensus from both delegations this weekend is neither side wants a decoupling Bessent announced And what had occurred with these very high tariff was an embargo the equivalent of an embargo And neither side wants that We do want agreement We want more balanced transaction And I think that both sides are committed to achieving that China s Commerce Ministry called the agreement an fundamental step for the resolution of the two countries differences and mentioned it lays the foundation for further cooperation This initiative aligns with the expectations of producers and consumers in both countries and serves the interests of both nations as well as the common interests of the world a ministry declaration noted It added that China hopes the U S will stop the erroneous practice of unilateral tariff hikes and work with China to safeguard the improvement of their economic and exchange relations injecting more certainty and stability into the global market The full impact on the complicated tariffs and other contract penalties enacted by Washington and Beijing remains unclear And much depends on whether they will find solutions to bridge longstanding differences during the -day suspension But as transaction envoys from the world s two biggest economies blinked finding means to pull back from potentially massive disruptions to world agreement and their own markets investors rejoiced Futures for the S P jumped and for the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up Oil prices surged more than a barrel and the U S dollar gained against the euro and the Japanese yen Jens Eskelund president of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China welcomed the news but expressed caution The tariffs only were suspended for days and there is great uncertainty over what lies ahead he disclosed in a announcement Businesses need predictability to maintain normal operations and make funding decisions The chamber therefore hopes to see both sides continue to engage in dialogue to resolve differences and avoid taking measures that will disrupt global exchange and effect in collateral damage for those caught in the cross-fire Eskelund commented Trump last month raised U S tariffs on China to a combined and China retaliated by hitting American imports with a levy Tariffs that high essentially amount to the two countries boycotting each other s products disrupting exchange that last year topped billion The announcement by the U S and China sent shares surging with U S futures jumping more than Hong Kong s Hang Seng index surged nearly and benchmarks in Germany and France were both up The Trump administration has imposed tariffs on countries worldwide but its fight with China has been the majority of intense Trump s import taxes on goods from China include a charge meant to pressure Beijing into doing more to stop the flow of the synthetic opioid fentanyl into the United States The remaining involve a dispute dating back to Trump s first term and comes atop tariffs he levied on China then which means the total tariffs on selected Chinese goods can exceed