A Trump-China Trade Truce

A temporary breakthrough. And no collapse. A weekend of trade discussions between the United States and China ended with both sides temporarily slashing tariffs and agreeing to keep talking, a vast improvement over weeks of performatively shouting at each other across the Pacific Ocean.

After Day One of the weekend discussions, President Donald Trump had announced on social media that there had been a “total reset.” He did not elaborate.

But on Monday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said the two sides had agreed to a 90-day tariff truce of sorts, with the U.S. dropping duties on Chinese goods to 30% and Beijing cutting import taxes on U.S. products to 10%.

Just as importantly, the two sides agreed to “establish a mechanism to continue discussions about economic and trade relations.” (They did so in a rare joint statement.)

Markets rejoiced, but those rates are still historically high.

The agreement may not avert some disruptions. It takes weeks for a cargo ship bound from China to reach U.S. shores. There may still be shortages and price hikes even if the truce reassures experts who had predicted a higher risk of a U.S. recession.