Scott Bessent, Secretary of the US Ministry of Finance, attested to the Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, USA, May 7, 2025 before a hearing from the Financial Service Committee of the House Financial Services entitled “The annual testimony of the finance minister about the state of the International Financial System”.
Nathan Howard | Reuters
The White House announced a “trade agreement” with China without details on Sunday after the Trump government officers had spent the weekend with their Chinese colleagues.
Although details of the deal are still unclear, any de-escalation in the ongoing trade war of a global economy that has been expanded since President Donald Trump's tariff announcement of April 2 could bring an urgently needed relief.
Finance Minister Scott Bessent said on Sunday that the trade talks that took place in Geneva at the weekend were “productive”.
He said the conversations had “a lot” productivity and he would give more details in a complete briefing on Monday morning.
Bessent also said that he and the US sales representative Jamieson Greer spoke to President Donald Trump on Saturday evening and “he is fully informed about the discussions”.
Greer said during the comments on Sunday that the officials reached any form of a “deal”, but did not see any details. He greeted the discussions as “very constructive”.
“It is important to understand how quickly we could agree, which reflects that the differences may not be as big as maybe thought,” said Greer.
“We are confident that the deal we met with our Chinese partners will help us to solve this national emergency,” he added.
The Chinese officials who took part in the meetings also spoke positively.
Vice President of the People's Republic of China, he said Lifeng, the meeting “made considerable progress and made an important consensus”.
“The two sides agreed to determine a consultation mechanism for commercial and economic issues,” said Lifeng.
Li China, Li China, suggested that an explanation would soon come with further details on the negotiations, but did not say when the declaration would be published.
“As we say back in China, the timing is not a matter if the dishes are delicious,” said Chengang.
“I think no matter when this statement is published, it will be a great news. Good news for the world.”
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The high-stakes negotiations in Switzerland this weekend are in the middle of the widespread economic uncertainty that results from the US China trade war.
The two nations have involved in a tariff-for-date to-act in the weeks since its announcement of 145% tariffs for Beijing. In response to this, China increased its taxes for US goods to 125%.
The patient situation has built through the financial markets and triggered concerns about fewer goods and increasing prices for consumers.
Trump praised the first day of discussions and wrote that the US officials had a “very good meeting with China” in a social post on Saturday.
“Many things discussed, a lot agreed,” wrote Trump. “A total reset negotiates in a friendly but constructive way.”
Bessent said that he and Greer had met with the Vice Prime Minister of China, which the finance minister described as a “integral part” in discussions.
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