European Markets Exhale as China, US Climb Down from Trade War

European markets breathed a sigh of relief after the on-again, off-again global trade war inspired by President Donald Trump was put on pause. The US and China will temporarily lower tariffs on each other’s products, ratcheting down trade tensions between the world’s two biggest economies.

“We are in agreement that neither side wants to decouple,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told us in a television interview following a weekend of intense talks in Geneva. The temporary measure gives both sides three months to work towards a lasting agreement. Equities across the world surged on the news.