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0China has come to the table - but this fight is far from over
China's defiance as it faced down US President Donald Trump's tariffs has been a defining image of this trade war.
May 12, 2025, BBC
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It has prompted viral memes of Trump waiting for the Chinese leader to call.
"We will not back down," has been an almost daily message from Beijing's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. As the tariffs and the rhetoric from Washington escalated, China dug its heels in.
Even as Chinese officials headed to Switzerland for talks, a state-run social media account published a cartoon of the US Treasury secretary pushing an empty shopping trolley.
There were even conflicting versions of who initiated the talks in Geneva.
But after two days of "robust" talks, the situation appears to have changed.
So, is this a major turning point for Washington and Beijing? The answer is yes and no.
'We want to trade'
"The consensus from both delegations this weekend is neither side wants a decoupling," said US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent during a press conference in Geneva.
"And what had occurred with these very high tariffs... was the equivalent of an embargo, and neither side wants that. We do want trade."
Economists admit that this agreement is better than expected.
"I thought tariffs would be cut to somewhere around 50%," Zhiwei Zhang, chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management in Hong Kong, told Reuters news agency.
But in fact, US tariffs on Chinese imports will now fall to 30%, while Chinese tariffs on US goods will drop to 10%.
"Obviously, this is very positive news for economies in both countries and for the global economy, and makes investors much less concerned about the damage to global supply chains in the short term," he added.
