The US announces a "deal" in the trade dispute with China

For almost two days, virtually nothing emerged from the residence of the Swiss ambassador to the UN in the Geneva suburb of Cologny, where China and the US, mediated by Bern, held their first high-level talks about their trade conflict. That was until Sunday evening, when the American delegation broke the silence. "I am happy to report substantial progress," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told reporters.

His colleague, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, went a step further. He recalled the "national emergency" declared by President Donald Trump in light of the US's $1.2 trillion annual trade deficit with the rest of the world. Greer then said: "We are confident that the deal we have agreed to with our Chinese partners will help us work toward a resolution of this national emergency."

Greer spoke of a "deal," of an agreement with China. However, he and Bessent left open what the alleged deal would actually look like. The White House also ran a headline on its website Sunday evening about a "China trade deal," but only quoted Bessent and Greer's words. A full briefing will be held on Monday, Bessent said in Cologny.

Later on Sunday evening, China expressed at least cautious optimism. There was an "important consensus," said the delegation's leader, Vice Premier He Lifeng, at a media conference in Geneva, to which only certain journalists were invited. China and the United States would establish a consultation mechanism for trade issues and issue a joint statement on Monday.

In addition to other encouraging words, He also issued a warning: China does not want to wage a trade war. However, if the US insists, China will "not be afraid and will fight to the end."

Already on Saturday, President Trump expressed optimism on his online network Truth Social. After the first day of negotiations, he wrote that great progress had been made and that a "total reset" had been negotiated. Trump did not comment on the substance of the negotiations.

At the beginning of April, the US President imposed punitive tariffs of up to 145 percent on Chinese imports. China responded by gradually increasing them to up to 125 percent. Trade in goods between the two countries has already declined sharply. In the long run, bilateral trade appears unsustainable at the current tariff level.

On Sunday, both delegations provided at least a brief insight into the negotiations. Finance Minister Bessent spoke of "high productivity," while Trade Representative Greer described the negotiations as "two very constructive days." The heads of the Chinese delegation, Vice Premier He Lifeng and two vice ministers, were "tough negotiators."

Compared to Bessent, Greer appeared somewhat more open and optimistic. He emphasized "how quickly we were able to reach an agreement." This shows that perhaps the differences between the US and China "weren't as great as one might have thought."

Chinese Vice Premier He called the talks with the US open and productive. He said some differences are unavoidable. China is willing to work with the US to resolve these differences and expand the list of joint cooperation.

Over the weekend, Chinese state media had expressed themselves during the negotiations in a very different way than President Trump and later his envoys Bessent and Greer. In several articles, the party-state signaled that it could supposedly get along just fine without the United States.

"China accelerates replacement of American products," headlined the party newspaper Global Times. The official Xinhua News Agency reported extensively on the visit of Party and state leader Xi Jinping to Moscow and on an upcoming forum between China and Latin American and Caribbean countries in Beijing.

In another commentary article on Sunday morning, Xinhua called the Geneva talks an important step toward resolving the problems with the United States, but stressed that talks should never be a pretext for "continued coercion and blackmail."

The Global Times also claimed that the trade dispute is putting a greater strain on the American economy than on the Chinese economy, meaning the US has more pressure to act. Indeed, China's already struggling economy is also suffering greatly from the dispute.

Thus, as far as is publicly known, there was only one clear winner on Sunday evening: Switzerland. Its good offices had, after all, led to the two superpowers meeting face-to-face at a high level for the first time, from around 10 a.m. until the evening.

And while the first runners of the Geneva Marathon, which passed the lake a few hundred meters from the negotiation venue on Sunday, crossed the finish line after just over two hours, the negotiation marathon between the USA and China has probably only just begun.