Chinese and US officials tentatively agree to avert 100 percent tariffs

NEGOTIATORS have reached a framework of a trade deal to avert additional 100 percent tariffs that President Donald Trump had threatened to impose on imports from China, setting the stage for the US president's highly anticipated meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Thursday.

- WASHINGTON POST

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in interviews Sunday that constructive meetings with his Chinese counterparts led to the deal, with the delegation from Beijing agreeing to defer restrictions on rare earth minerals that were poised to harm the US economy. The announcement marked a significant deescalation of a whip-lashing trade war between the world's two largest economies, which heated up when Trump threatened to ratchet up tariffs earlier this month in response to China's restrictions on the minerals, which are essential components in most electronics.

“President Trump gave me a great deal of negotiating leverage with the threat of the 100 percent tariffs, and I believe we've reached a very substantial framework that will avoid that and allow us to discuss many other things with the Chinese,” Bessent said on NBC's “Meet the Press.”