On Monday, to the surprise of global investors, the U.S. and China agreed to a 90-day trade deal. The deal slashed tariffs between the two countries and sent stocks surging. Leading the negotiations on the U.S. side was Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. WSJ’s Brian Schwartz, who covered the talks in Geneva, explains how Bessent became President Trump’s man on trade policy and got China to ‘yes’ on a temporary truce. Jessica Mendoza hosts. Further Listening: -Made In America? Shoe Companies Already Tried That. -Taking Stock of the ‘Sell America’ Trade -China Unleashes A Trade War Arsenal -Tariff Trade-Off: Jobs vs. Higher Prices Sign up for WSJ’s free What’s News newsletter . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Chapter 1: Who are the main speakers in this episode?
Brian, welcome back. How was your trip?
Chapter 2: What was the atmosphere and secrecy surrounding the U.S.-China trade talks in Geneva?
It was wild. It was a crazy few days. We landed on a Friday, and it just carried in for 72 hours of pure nonstop work. We did not stop working. It was nuts.
Our colleague Brian Schwartz covers economic policy, and he spent the weekend in Geneva, Switzerland, where trade negotiations between the U.S. and China were taking place.
So the United States and China were meeting, really officially at least, for the first time to talk about this ongoing trade war between both countries. It was a big deal going into it just for the fact that they were having these talks.
But beyond the fact that the two delegations were meeting, Brian didn't know much.
The Trump administration would determine to keep these meetings a secret outside of the fact that they were happening in Switzerland. It wasn't even entirely clear based on their one-line announcement of their meetings with China if this was even going to be in Geneva itself. That is how secret this was.
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Chapter 3: How did Brian Schwartz cover the secretive trade negotiations?
So I decided the first day of talks on that Saturday to stake out the lobby of the Intercontinental Hotel very early in the morning.
Brian was on the lookout for U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Besson and his entourage.
And we're waiting there. And basically the way it went was they got into this convoy of black vehicles, tinted windows, and they were just waiting there, those vehicles, at the entrance of the hotel. And you've got basically a split second to make a really simple decision. You're either going to follow them there or you're not. And I decided to follow them there. So I ran to a taxi.
There was a line of taxis there at the hotel, naturally. And I told the taxi driver to follow the convoy of vehicles and do not stop until they stop driving, get out of the car.
The convoy, with Brian's taxi tailing it, made its way to a private estate just outside Geneva's city center. And it was there that the U.S. delegation, led by Bessent, would hammer out a temporary truce in the trade war.
We have reached... an agreement on a 90-day pause and substantially moved down the tariff levels.
How would you describe Treasury Secretary Scott Besant's role during these talks?
I mean, he's been key. He has been critical for this. And to tell you the truth, if it wasn't for Scott Besant leading the way, I don't know if this would have happened.
Welcome to The Journal, our show about money, business, and power. I'm Jessica Mendoza. It's Tuesday, May 13th. Coming up on the show, the Treasury Secretary and the trade deal. Before this weekend, trade relations between the U.S. and China, the world's two largest economies, were at a low point. President Trump had set a 145% tariff on imports from China.
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Chapter 4: What were the key terms of the 90-day U.S.-China trade deal?
Chapter 5: What role did Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent play in the trade negotiations?
Welcome to The Journal, our show about money, business, and power. I'm Jessica Mendoza. It's Tuesday, May 13th. Coming up on the show, the Treasury Secretary and the trade deal. Before this weekend, trade relations between the U.S. and China, the world's two largest economies, were at a low point. President Trump had set a 145% tariff on imports from China.
In return, China hit back with a 125% tariff on goods coming in from the U.S.
We are following the breaking news of President Trump threatening to slap China with additional tariffs. Trump's tariffs are causing a whole lot of confusion among a whole lot of Americans. Families are starting to feel it. E-commerce giants, Timu, Shine, and Amazon, they've all started raising some prices.
The moves shook the markets. Some businesses started stockpiling goods from China, while others reassessed their plans. The deal marks a respite, though it's set to expire after 90 days. So what are the key details in the deal? Can you give a summary?
It's wonky because there's been so many versions of different tariffs that we've slapped on China. But it's give or take 30 percent tariffs now. And it's the same story for China versus the United States. They brought down tariffs on the reciprocal side down to 10 percent.
So the U.S. lowered its baseline tariffs all the way back down to 10% on Chinese goods. But there's an additional 20% tariff still in place, tied to fentanyl.
on the fentanyl tariffs. They're still on there because the U.S. has concerns about China's alleged role in fentanyl distribution and creation out in that country. And I think the idea would be that the U.S.
is going to pitch to China that to have even better relations, they're going to insist that they crack down more and more on fentanyl and they have to prove that they're doing it pretty regularly.
Okay, so the deal gets done. And according to your reporting, Brian, a lot of the credit goes to Scott Besant. How did he wind up in that position where he has President Trump's trust to negotiate such a high-stakes deal?
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Chapter 6: How did Scott Bessent earn President Trump's trust to lead trade talks?
Well, I tell you, those guys are thick as thieves. I mean, they are clearly very close. And during the meetings, they came off to me kind of like Batman and Robin, right? Scott Besson is the leader in a way because he's more senior from Wall Street. This is somebody that's been in business for a long time. And Jameson Greer is kind of like Robin.
Despite their good working relationship, the duo faced an uphill battle. Tensions with China were high, and this was the first time the two countries were officially meeting to discuss Trump's tariffs. Was it surprising that a deal got done?
Yes. Nobody in their right mind would have thought this was going to happen. I mean, you have to understand, you know, from the Wall Street Journal's perspective, we were just following the ball here. And before the talk started, Scott Besson effectively said these were just talks to start talks. That's what he said.
And so we were going into this with almost zero expectation that anything was going to happen. And then it did.
How the deal went down is after the break.
Talking about guns with others might not always feel comfortable, but it could save a life. Here's a way to start a conversation. Your family is going over to your neighbor's home for dinner for the first time. How would you ask if there are any unlocked guns in the home?
Hey!
Hey, we're so excited for tonight. Before we come over, though, may I ask if there are any unlocked guns in your home?
Our guns are stored securely, locked in a safe that the kids can't access.
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Chapter 7: What was the dynamic between Scott Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jameson Greer?
My colleague Brian Schwartz spent the weekend at the estate where the trade talks were happening.
I mean, listen, I get out of the cab, I look around, and I said, where the heck am I? And I arrived to this massive property with this over six, seven foot gate. And you look, you know, the gates start to open for some reason. I don't know why they did that.
And you see what's through there and you see this beautiful home, Secret Service and other security, including from Geneva police, are standing in there. And, you know, you've got to the right place because this is just not normal to be happening.
It turned out Brian was at the residence of the Swiss ambassador to the United Nations. And inside, the U.S. and China delegations were having surprisingly cordial discussions. Though there were areas of contention. One of the big ones was fentanyl. Trump has accused China of playing a role in the illicit fentanyl trade, something Beijing denies. And you touched on this earlier.
Chapter 8: Was the trade deal between the U.S. and China expected or surprising?
What about fentanyl?
It did come up and it was a piece, not a focal point, but a piece of the conversation. So on the first day of talks, Scott Besant sat down with China counterparts and picked up, there was a plate of sugar on the table. And he takes a little bit of sugar and says, this is how much could kill a single person.
Then he picks up a little bit more and he says, this is how much could kill people across Geneva. In terms of fentanyl, this is what he was trying to say. And he picks up some more sugar and he says, this is how much fentanyl could kill people across Switzerland.
Wow. That's pretty dramatic.
Yes. And he made it extremely clear with that example how important this was to figure this out, at least down the road between the U.S. and China.
In the end, the two sides didn't come to an agreement on fentanyl. But China had brought a senior official to discuss the issue, which Besant said was a positive sign. After two days of negotiations, Besant came out to make a statement to the press.
Both countries represented their national interests very well. We concluded that we have shared interests and we both have an interest in balanced trade.
So what did China get from this deal and are they happy with it?
I think that China should be very happy with the deal because now the U.S. got the reciprocal tariffs down. And it's kind of, in a way, albeit with tariffs still on China from the U.S. side, from what Secretary of Business said, a clean slate, a fresh start between both sides. That's clearly how... The U.S. are going at this from what China said around the same time of the deal.
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