Geneva/Beijing, May 12 (EFE).- China will reduce tariffs on US products from 125 percent to 10 percent over the next 90 days and the US will do the same from 145 percent to 30 percent on Chinese goods, as part of a t agreement to stop the new trade war unleashed this year.
The pact was announced on Monday in a t statement released after negotiations held in Geneva over the weekend between representatives of the Chinese and US governments.
The two parties also spoke of a permanent consultation mechanism, in what represents the most tangible gesture of a thaw since the beginning of the current tariff escalation.
The new dialogue mechanism will be led by Chinese Deputy Prime Minister He Lifeng; US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and US trade representative Jamieson Greer, who could meet in China, the United States or a third country.
After the agreement was announced, Greer said that the talks in Geneva addressed the fentanyl consumption crisis in the US for the first time directly and that China understood its gravity.
The issue of the consumption of fentanyl, a synthetic drug that in recent years has become a public health problem in the US, has been an important element in the tariff war between the two powers.
Washington has called on Beijing to take drastic measures against the illegal production and export of chemicals that allow fentanyl processing.
Bessent expressed satisfaction with the outcome of the two days of meetings with China, highlighting the willingness to move forward in the discussions and the mutual respect that prevailed at all times.
The trade war between the two powers intensified from April with the imposition of new reciprocal tariffs, which raised the taxes to unprecedented levels: 145 percent for Chinese products and 125 percent for American products. EFE
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