The US and China agree to a 90-day partial suspension of tariffs.

BarcelonaThe United States and China announced a series of agreements on Monday to ease trade tensions between the two countries, including a partial suspension of their most recent reciprocal tariffs for 90 days. According to a joint statement released at the close of a new round of talks held in Geneva, Beijing will reduce tariffs on US products from 125% to 10% over the next three months, while Washington will cut its taxes on Chinese goods from 145% to 30% for the same period.

The two powers have also agreed to establish a permanent consultation mechanism, which represents the most tangible gesture of détente since the start of the current tariff escalation. The new dialogue mechanism will be led by Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng; US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent; and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, and will meet in China, the United States, or a third country.

The White House announced in a statement on Sunday that a trade agreement had been reached with the Asian giant. Senior representatives from both administrations met this weekend for the first time since the escalation of the trade war. However, details were not revealed until Monday. Aside from the announced measures, Greer explained that both countries have directly addressed the fentanyl consumption crisis in the US for the first time and asserted that China understands the "magnitude" of the problem.

Also in statements after the agreement was detailed, Bessent stated that both the US and China understand they have a shared interest in balanced trade. "The consensus over the last two days has been that neither side wants a decoupling (of trade) and that what happened with such high tariffs is equivalent to an embargo, and nobody wants that," he reflected. The trade war between the two powers intensified since April with the imposition of new reciprocal tariffs, which raised taxes to unprecedented levels: 145% for Chinese products and 125% for American ones.

This weekend's agreement represents, at least temporarily, a further step than what US President Donald Trump had been proposing in recent days, who had raised the possibility of reduce tariffs in China from 145% to 80%"An 80% tariff on China seems like the right thing to do," he said on his social media platform, Truth Social. Ultimately, the percentage will drop to 30%. Trump also demanded that, in exchange for the tariff reduction, China open its market in the US. "China should open their market in the United States, it would be great for them! Closed markets don't work anymore!" the Republican wrote.

Chinese stock markets closed higher after China and the United States announced the trade pact. Hong Kong's benchmark index, the Hang Seng, soared 2.98%. On the mainland, all markets closed moments before the document was released, but the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock markets rose 0.82% and 1.72%, respectively.