US and China reach deal to slash trade tariffs

The Star

The United States and China said on Monday (May 12) they had agreed a deal to slash reciprocal tariffs for now as the world's two biggest economies seek to end a trade war that has disrupted the global economy.  Speaking after talks with Chinese officials in Geneva, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told reporters that the two sides had agreed on a 90-day pause on measures and that tariffs would come down by over 100 percentage points to 10%.  WATCH MORE: https://thestartv.com/c/news SUBSCRIBE: https://cutt.ly/TheStar LIKE: https://fb.com/TheStarOnline

Transcript

00:00Thank you very much.

00:14China-U.S. trade and economic issues.

00:17We had very robust discussions.

00:30Thank you very much.

01:00Thank you very much.

01:30Thank you very much.

01:32Thank you very much.

01:36Thank you very much.

01:38Thank you very much.

01:40Thank you very much.

01:42Thank you very much.

01:44Thank you very much.

01:46Thank you very much.

01:48We have reached an agreement on a 90-day pause and substantially moved down the tariff levels.

02:04Both sides on the reciprocal tariffs will move their tariffs down 115%.

02:10We had very robust discussions.

02:14Both sides showed great respect.

02:18Throughout the trade process, we have had a plan.

02:24We have a process in place.

02:26And now, with the Chinese, after this weekend, we have a mechanism for continued talks.

02:33The consensus from both delegations this weekend is neither side wants a decoupling.

02:41And what had occurred with these very high tariffs, as Ambassador Greer said, was the equivalent of an embargo.

02:51And neither side wants that.

02:55We do want trade.

02:57We want more balanced trade.

02:59And I think that both sides are committed to achieving that.

03:03Thank you very much for achieving that.

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