The United States and China must reveal the details of the “progress” on Monday that they say they have made this weekend during negotiations in Geneva intended to lower tension in the thorny file of customs duties.
The two largest global economic powers, engaged in a commercial showdown since the imposition of prohibitive customs duties by Donald Trump, must disseminate a joint press release during the day.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Sunday that discussions made it possible to make “substantial progress”, in a brief statement to the press after the two-day meeting with Chinese Deputy Prime Minister He Lifeng.
The latter followed the plunge a few hours later by evoking journalists “significant progress” after two days of discussions which he described as “frank, in -depth and substantial”.
Beijing and Washington agreed to establish “a consultation mechanism” on trade, said He Lifeng. The Chinese Vice Minister of Commerce Li Chenggang said that the mechanism in question would allow “regular and irregular exchanges relating to commercial issues”.
Very encouraging
In a press release, the White House praised what it called a new “trade agreement” with China, without giving more details.
The Geneva meeting was the first face to face of senior officials from the two countries since Trump imposed a surcharge of 145% on the goods from China in early April, in addition to pre -existing customs duties.
Beijing, who promised to fight these surcharges “until the end”, retaliated with 125% customs duties on American products.
This trade war has shaken the global financial markets and fueled fears of inflation in the United States and economic slowdown.
Investors welcomed these announcements with cautious optimism, without euphoria. Asian scholarships were on the whole up to mid-day ( +0.9% in Hong Kong, +0.4% in Shanghai, +0.5% in Seoul, +0.7% in Singapore), with the notable exception of Tokyo (-0.1%).
“These discussions mark a significant step forward and, we hope, have a good omen for the future,” said the Director General of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, after having met He Lifeng herself. “These progress is important we only for the United States and China, but also for the rest of the world, especially the most vulnerable economies.”
The negotiations were held in camera in the residence of the Swiss representative with the United Nations, a opulent villa nestled on the left bank of Lake Geneva.
“It is very encouraging,” reacted to AFP the vice-president of the Asia Society Policy Institute (ASPI), Wendy Cutler, after the end of the negotiations. “The two parties discussed for more than 15 hours. It is a very long meeting for two countries and I see it as a positive point. ”
However, “the devil is in detail,” she added.
The meeting in Geneva intervened two days after Donald Trump unveiled a trade agreement with the United Kingdom, the first concluded since he imposed more or less prohibitive customs duties on all countries.
