but this is Capitulation Day

By America-Today      May 13, 2025 

Donald Trump will inevitably claim Monday’s temporary truce in the US-

China trade war as a victory, but financial markets seem to have read it for

what it is – a capitulation.

Stocks were up and bond yields were higher after the US treasury secretary

Scott Bessent’s early morning press conference in Geneva, where he has been

holding talks with China.

As with the UK “trade deal” last week, the US is not reverting to the status

quo before Trump arrived in the White House.

Instead, tariffs on Chinese goods will be cut from 145% to

30% – initially for a 90-day period. In return, China has

cut its own tariffs on US imports to 10%, from the 125% it

had imposed in retaliation against the White House.

That still marks a big shift in the terms of trade between

the two countries since before Trump came to power, but

falls far short of what was in effect a trade embargo.

The two sides have pledged to keep talking, but there

was no reference in the statement put out by the White

House to other gripes it has previously raised about China, including the

weakness of the yuan.