On-Site | China-U.S. Agree to Slash Tariffs for 90 days, What's Next?
The US market has a strong rigid demand for many Chinese products. China to U.S. ocean cargo bookings surge 300% after tariff rollback, container-tracking software provider Vizion said on Wednesday.
Editor’s note: China and the United States have eased tariff tensions for 90 days and agreed to continue broader discussions on economic and trade issues through a newly established mechanism, following the China-U.S. Economic and Trade Meeting held in Geneva. The two-day high-level meeting concluded with a joint statement released on Monday. And what would be the next? (This article was concluded on May 14.)
China and the U.S. have moved to make the relevant tariff adjustments on May 14.
The U.S. government has removed the additional 91 percent tariffs on Chinese goods (including those from Hong Kong and Macao SARs) imposed under Executive Orders No. 14259 (April 8, 2025) and No. 14266 (April 9, 2025), effective from 00:01 a.m. Eastern Time on May 14. Additionally, the U.S. government has modified the 34 percent reciprocal tariff measures on Chinese goods (including those from Hong Kong and Macao SARs) under Executive Orders No. 14257 (April 2, 2025). It suspended 24 percent of the tariffs for 90 days while retaining the remaining 10 percent. Meanwhile, the U.S. has reduced or revoked tariff on small parcels sent to U.S. from the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong SAR, lowered the ad valorem tax rate for international mail from 120 percent to 54 percent, and canceled the plan to increase the specific duty from $100 to $200 per item effective June 1, 2025.
China will adjust tariffs on imported U.S. products from 12:01 p.m. Wednesday, the Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council announced on Tuesday. China will modify accordingly the application of the additional ad valorem rate of duty on articles of the United States set forth in the Announcement of the Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council No. 4 of 2025, by suspending 24 percentage points of that rate for an initial period of 90 days, while retaining the remaining additional ad valorem rate of 10 percent on those articles. The country will also remove the modified additional ad valorem rates of duty on those articles imposed by the No. 5 and No. 6 announcements issued by the Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council on April 9 and 11, respectively.
Why China and the U.S. say 'substantive progress' was made?
Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, China's lead representative in the talks, stated that "substantive progress" and "important consensus" were achieved at a press conference following the two-day meeting with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, the U.S. representative in the talks, and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer. Bessent echoed this sentiment, saying he is happy to report the substantial progress between the U.S. and China in the very important trade talks.
"The U.S. mentality that we can impose tariffs on you, but you must not retaliate, especially its tactics of further escalating retaliatory measures against China's counter-tariffs no longer exist," Cui Fan, a professor of international trade and economics at the University of International Business and Economics (UIBE) in Beijing, emphasized. As outlined in the joint statement, a formal mechanism will be established to oversee ongoing economic discussions. It will be led by He Lifeng on the Chinese side, and by Bessent and Greer on the U.S. side.
Gong Jong, a professor at UIBE says the primary goal of this meeting is to restore bilateral trade first and then explore broader issues on that foundation.
What's behind the 'substantive progress' of China-U.S. talks?
Li Chenggang, the international trade representative with the Chinese Ministry of Commerce and vice commerce minister, described the talks as characterized by "mutual respect, equality, and mutual benefit, professionalism and high efficiency" at Sunday's press conference. "
The substantive progress made reflects a convergence of short-term pressures and long-term strategic considerations," said professor Jia Qingguo, member of the Standing Committee of the 11th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the country's top political advisory body, and former dean of the School of International Studies at Peking University.
"Both China and the U.S. are feeling the immediate pain and tangible effects of the high tariffs, as both countries quickly escalated tariffs to prohibitive levels of 145 percent and 125 percent respectively in April, making the trade almost paused," Luo Zhenxing, an associate research fellow at the Institute of American Studies of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) said, explaining why the meeting could achieve progress in such a short time.
On May 9, CNN reported a "rare" scene where no cargo vessels departed China for the U.S. West Coast's two major ports in the past 12 hours, a rare disruption in global supply chains. "Such a near-halt in trade underlines how quickly both economies felt the impact of hiking tariffs," Luo noted.
Global lessons from tariff talks
"U.S. unilateralism can be countered without escalating into confrontation," Sun Chenghao, a fellow and head of U.S.-EU program at Center for International Security and Strategy (CISS) of Tsinghua University explained that the China-U.S. talks have also sent this signal to other economies including the U.S. allies and partners that are locked in their own tariffs battles with Washington. Sun further noted there is a broad consensus among the Chinese intelligentsia over where Trump's "America First" and "might is right" policies stem from.
"The U.S. tariff war on China stem from strategic anxiety about the rise of China," analyzed professor Jia Qingguo, adding that Washington aims to narrow the growing gap in manufacturing through economic measures, seeking to maintain its hegemonic position. "But the massive scale and complementary nature of China-U.S. trade mean such measures risk triggering global supply chain disruptions – a 'lose-lose' scenario with spillover effects on the global economy," Jia added.
Professor Jia emphasized that while China must resist U.S. unilateralism to protect the country's core interests in the short term, as demonstrated by its proportional tariff countermeasures, long-term peace requires continued dialogue and joint rejection of unilateralism. "The stakes are too high for a return to conflict," Jia warned.
What comes next?
When asked about future topics, especially fentanyl-related discussions and negotiations planned in next stage of China-U.S. trade talks, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian on Tuesday reiterated that China has stated multiple times that fentanyl is the U.S.' problem, and the responsibility to solve it lies with the U.S. itself. Lin added that such actions have severely undermined bilateral cooperation on counternarcotics and harmed China's legitimate interests.
"If the U.S. is truly sincere about working with China, it should stop smearing and shifting blame. Dialogue must be based on mutual respect, equality, and reciprocity," Lin said.
Why Switzerland was chosen to host China-U.S. talks?
Switzerland once again served as the neutral host, as it did in 2021.
Sun Chenghao explained that the choice clearly reflects China's willingness to have equal dialogue with the U.S. in a relatively neutral place, free from excessive geopolitical pressure. Therefore, Switzerland's role as a host was no accident but a calculated choice to ensure equal-footed talks.
Zhang Jiadong, a professor at the Center for American Studies of Fudan University agreed on this point, noting that a neutral venue avoids the symbolism of 'winning' or 'losing' before talks even begin.
Stay tuned for more updates on China's political, economic, and cultural landscapes.
Disclaimer: This newsletter is for informational purposes only. All sources are publicly available and subject to change.
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