US, China hail ‘constructive’ Geneva trade talks, say ‘substantial progress’ made

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, who led the American delegation in Geneva for talks with China, described the trade talks as a “substantial progress” and reiterated that a joint statement would be issued on Monday.

“The U.S. has a massive $1.2 trillion trade deficit. So @POTUS declared a national emergency and imposed tariffs, and we’re confident that the deal we struck with our Chinese partners will help us towards resolving that national emergency.” –@USTradeRep Jamieson Greer pic.twitter.com/0QVgjEHm3m

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) May 11, 2025

During the press briefing, neither side mentioned any agreement if the US tariff of 145% on Chinese goods would be lowered or China’s tariff of 125% on US products would be slashed.

Members of the Chinese delegation leave a residence where trade talks between Chinese and U.S. delegations take place in Geneva, Switzerland. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

The talks in Geneva were the first face-to-face meeting between Washington and Beijing’s officials after US President Donald Trump started imposing tariff levies on Chinese goods in February, with China responding in similar measure, coupled with a reciprocal tariff announced by the president that sent shockwaves across the global financial markets.

The US Treasury chief Bessent had earlier said that there is a need to “de-escalate” as the tariff duties levied by world’s two largest economies on each other’s products amount to a trade embargo.

US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer described the two-day meeting with Beijing as “a deal we struck with our Chinese partners” to aid in reducing the $1.2 trillion US global goods trade deficit.

“It’s important to understand how quickly we were able to come to agreement, which reflects that perhaps the differences were not as large as maybe thought,” Geer added, Reuters reported.