The Chinese side, led by Vice Premier He Lifeng, did not comment after concluding a second day of talks in Geneva.
US President Donald Trump last month declared a “national emergency” because of the massive trade deficit with China, which amounts to $1.2 trillion, Greer noted.
“We are confident that the deal we struck with our Chinese partners will help us work towards resolving that national emergency,” he said.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who was also in Geneva, said “substantial progress” had been made.
Trump had sparked an uproar by introducing 145% duties on Chinese goods. China responded with retaliatory tariffs of 125% on US imports, sparking fears of a global trade war.
Trump later floated the idea of cutting his 145% tariffs on China to 80%.
A short history of the US-China Trade War
An economic conflict between the United States and China has been ongoing since January 2018, when U.S. President Donald Trump began imposing tariffs and other trade barriers on China. The goal was to pressure China into addressing what the U.S. described as longstanding unfair trade practices and widespread intellectual property theft.
The Trump administration argued that these practices contributed to the U.S.–China trade deficit and criticized China’s policy of requiring American companies to transfer technology as a condition for market access. In retaliation, the administration of Chinese Communist Party General Secretary Xi Jinping accused the U.S. of nationalist protectionism and implemented countermeasures.
As the trade war intensified through 2019, the two countries reached a tentative “phase one” agreement in January 2020. However, China failed to meet the commitment to purchase an additional $200 billion in U.S. imports. By the end of Trump’s first term, many American media outlets described the trade war as a failure for the United States.
The Biden administration maintained the existing tariffs and introduced additional duties on Chinese products, including electric vehicles and solar panels. In 2024, Trump’s presidential campaign proposed a 60% tariff on Chinese goods.
The conflict escalated significantly in 2025 under Trump’s second term. A new wave of tariff increases resulted in the U.S. imposing a 145% tariff on Chinese imports, prompting China to retaliate with a 125% tariff on American goods. These measures are projected to reduce global merchandise trade by 0.2%.
