Bessent v. Beijing

Yesterday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer concluded two days of intense talks with their communist Chinese counterparts. They emerged with a significant deal that no one was expecting. Once again, President Trump made his critics look foolish on the issue of trade with communist China. 

Both sides agreed to lower tariffs by 115% for 90 days. That means China dropped its tariffs against U.S. products from 125% to 10%. We dropped our tariffs on Chinese products from 145% to 30%. President Trump is keeping an additional 20% tariff in place due to the fentanyl issue. 

The financial markets liked the news. The Dow Jones surged more than 1,000 points, with the S&P 500 and NASDAQ also making big gains.

Trade negotiations will continue over the next 90 days. Bessent said today that he expects to meet again with top Chinese officials “in the next few weeks.”

Chinese negotiators seemed to feign surprise that the trade war escalated so quickly because in the previous four years, no one in the U.S. government ever raised trade issues with them. 

Well, that would be the Biden administration. They repeatedly said their number one issue was working with communist China on climate change. They were going to “save the planet,” not the jobs of working-class Americans.