Stock futures rose Sunday after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said “substantial progress” was made in trade negotiations with Chinese officials, potentially thawing tensions kickstarted by Trump’s aggressive tariff policy.
Dow futures jumped 1.03%, or 427.66 points. S&P 500 futures rose 1.31%, or 75.8 points, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite futures went up 1.71%, or 348.19 points, as of 7:45 p.m. ET.
Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer joined other US officials in Geneva, Switzerland, to meet with Chinese officials about trade after President Donald Trump imposed sweeping 145% tariffs on most Chinese goods last month. China retaliated with 125% on US goods.
Markets have whipsawed in recent months amid uncertainty over Trump’s changing tariff policies.
Sunday’s gains indicate investors are hopeful a trade agreement between the United States and China could boost the global and US economies.
US officials are expected to announce a framework for the trade deal Monday morning. The potential agreement with China comes after Trump announced Thursday that a deal was made with the United Kingdom.
Tariffs will likely remain in place between the United States and China but not at the massive levels that were imposed by Trump in April.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick confirmed Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union” that the United States was not willing to set tariff rates lower than 10% when negotiating with countries. The trade deal with the UK maintained a 10% tariff rate, which Lutnick said will stay for the “foreseeable future.”
But the trade deals follow weeks of uncertainty from Trump’s back-and-forth tariffs. Consumer confidence has dropped, and the nation’s gross domestic product showed its first quarterly contraction since early 2022. Goldman Sachs analysts said Thursday that a key measure of inflation would effectively double to 4% by the end of the year because of the sweeping tariffs.
A de-escalation in the trade war with China is still a good sign. Sunday’s announcement comes weeks before American consumers can potentially see higher prices on goods or empty shelves in stores.
But the ripple effects have yet to be seen, as ships pulling into US harbors from China now are the first to be subject to the massive tariffs. Since Trump’s tariffs took effect, imports from China have declined. The drop-off in imports from China on the boats now coming into port is more than 50%, Gene Seroka, executive director of the Port of Los Angeles, previously told CNN.
This story has been updated with additional information.
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