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Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is headed to Switzerland for talks with Chinese representatives.
May 7, 2025, 12:57 a.m.
A thawing in the trade stance from both the U.S. and China has sent risk assets higher in the hours since the U.S. stock market closed on Wednesday.
"The current tariffs and trade barriers are unsustainable, but we don’t want to decouple," said U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, disclosing plans to travel to Switzerland to meet with Chinese counterparts for trade talks this coming weekend.
"Senior U.S. officials have made a series of remarks hinting at adjustments to tariffs and have expressed, through various channels, a desire to engage with the Chinese side on tariff-related issues," said a China Ministry of Commerce spokesperson. "China has carefully evaluated these messages from the U.S. side and, after fully considering global expectations, China’s own interests, and the appeals of American industries and consumers, has decided to agree to engage with the U.S."
The news has quickly sent bitcoin (BTC) higher by about 3% to $97,200. Nasdaq 100 and S&P 500 futures have jumped about 1%.
Stephen Alpher
Stephen is CoinDesk's managing editor for Markets. He previously served as managing editor at Seeking Alpha. A native of suburban Washington, D.C., Stephen went to the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, majoring in finance. He holds BTC above CoinDesk’s disclosure threshold of $1,000.
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