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The Trump administration and China have agreed to temporarily scale back tariffs as the two nations take tentative steps towards negotiating an economic ceasefire after over a month of escalation in a trade war that has threatened the global economy.
The White House announced on Monday that “in reaching an agreement, the United States and China will each lower tariffs by 115 percent while retaining an additional 10-percent tariff,” and that “other U.S. measures will remain in place.”
“China will remove the retaliatory tariffs it announced since April 4, 2025, and will also suspend or remove the non-tariff countermeasures taken against the United States since April 2, 2025,” a White House fact sheet announced. “China will also suspend its initial 34-percent tariff on the United States it announced on April 4, 2025 for 90 days, but will retain a 10-percent tariff during the period of the pause.”
The U.S. will now lower its tariff rate against Chinese goods from 145 percent to 30 percent, while China will lower its rates from 125 percent to 10 percent. The agreement means China will also temporarily suspend restrictions on the exporting of rare earth minerals and other raw materials to the United States.
Trump has repeatedly described the tariffs as a savior of the American economy. Over the weekend, he insisted on Truth Social: “IN JUST THREE MONTHS, TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS (and therefore, record numbers of JOBS!) HAVE BEEN POURING INTO THE USA. THIS IS BECAUSE OF MY TARIFF POLICY.” Last week, the president even claimed that a lack of ships entering U.S. ports was actually a “good thing,” because it means “we lose less money.”
In reality, consumers are already feeling the sting of higher prices, the economy contracted in the first quarter of 2025 — putting the U.S. on track to enter an official recession if things don’t shape up — and virtually every major financial institution is warning that the president’s trade war will lead to higher inflation, unemployment, and instability.
Trump tried to claim on Monday that it was actually China who backed down in the face of economic pressure. “The relationship is very good. We aren’t looking to hurt China. China was being hurt badly and closing up factories and having a lot of unrest,” he said. Chinese state media, meanwhile, bragged about the effectiveness of “firm countermeasures and resolute stance” in the face of Trump’s tariffs.
In a statement issued Sunday night, U.S. Trade Representative Ambassador Jamieson Greer said that the two nations were able to come to an agreement “quickly.”
“Perhaps the differences were not so large as maybe thought,” Greer said, adding that people need to “remember why we’re here in the first place — the United States has a massive $1.2 trillion trade deficit, so the President declared a national emergency and imposed tariffs, and we’re confident that the deal we struck with our Chinese partners will help us to work toward resolving that national emergency.”
The only real national emergency was the impending economic fallout of Trump’s hardline and seemingly arbitrary global tariff policy. Last week, the Federal Reserve dealt a blow to the president’s supposedly masterful planning by refusing to lower interest rates in response to tariff-induced anxiety, and warning that “if the large increases in tariffs that have been announced are sustained, they are likely to generate a rise in inflation, a slowdown in economic growth, and an increase in unemployment.”
In April, after Trump’s “Liberation Day” announcement of global tariffs and trade restrictions roiled international financial markets, the president announced a pause in enforcement in order to give nations time to negotiate “deals” with the United States. Instead of pausing the tariffs on China, however, Trump jacked them up to over 100 percent, and then ultimately to 145 percent.
So far, no trade deals have been formalized, and the threat of economic fallout remains high. The Chinese government spent weeks denying the White House’s claims that they were engaged in productive negotiations towards a trade deal, and that they wouldn’t be willing to come to the table until Trump agreed to roll back the punitive levies.
It seems that in the face of worsening economic indicators and stagnating leverage, the Trump administration finally caved. As the U.S. and China begin the long road to reconciliation, the biggest obstacle towards a resolution remains the American president’s ego, and his willingness to screw over his own population in order to protect it.
