CX Daily: U.S.-China Call a Truce, But Global Trade Has Changed Forever

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Cover Story: U.S.-China call a truce, but global trade has changed forever

After 40 days of escalating trade tensions driven by U.S. President Donald Trump’s sweeping campaign of “reciprocal tariffs”, the world’s two largest economies agreed to a temporary ceasefire in Geneva on May 12, offering a fragile reprieve in a mounting global trade war.

The United States and China jointly announced a 90-day suspension of most of the punitive tariffs they had imposed on each other. From May 14, the U.S, slashed its top tariff on Chinese goods from 145% to 30%, a rate composed of a 10% baseline tariff and a fentanyl-specific 20% levy.