Archive May 12, 2025

China and the United States have agreed to suspend some of the heavy trade tariffs imposed against one another as they prepare to extend negotiations aimed at lowering trade war tensions.

The two countries issued a joint statement on Monday, following two days of trade talks in Geneva, Switzerland. They described the negotiations, which came after US President Donald Trump’s nationalist agenda prompted a spiral of increasingly heavy duties, as positive.

Global markets reacted positively to the news, with stock markets in Hong Kong, the US and Europe rising.

In the statement, Beijing and Washington said they recognise the importance of their bilateral economic and trade relationship to both countries and the global economy.

They said they would move forward “in the spirit of mutual opening, continued communication, cooperation, and mutual respect”.

As part of the agreement, the US will suspend its additional ad valorem rate of duties – tax based on the value of goods – by 24 percent for an “initial” period of 90 days. This will leave a 10 percent tariff rate in place.

China will reduce its duties on US imports by a similar amount, also retaining a tariff of 10 percent.

Washington will also roll back tariffs imposed by two executive orders signed by Trump in early April, affecting a wide range of US imports of goods from China, including Hong Kong and Macau.

Beijing will suspend tariffs imposed in response and “suspend or remove the non-tariff countermeasures” taken against the US.

‘Neither side wants to be decoupled’

The world’s two largest economies also agreed to establish a mechanism to continue discussions on economic and trade relations, and named officials to lead the talks.

Vice Premier of the State Council He Lifeng will be China’s top negotiator. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer will lead the talks for the White House.

“These discussions may be conducted alternately in China and the United States, or a third country upon agreement of the Parties. As required, the two sides may conduct working-level consultations on relevant economic and trade issues,” the joint statement reads.

Bessent told reporters in Geneva that “both sides will move down reciprocal tariffs” by up to 115 percent on some goods after successful meetings during which the two delegations exhibited “great respect” for each other.

“The consensus from both delegations is neither side wants to be decoupled,” Bessent said, adding that the tariffs were the equivalent of an embargo, something neither side favoured.

Global markets had fallen considerably amid the trade wars launched by the Trump administration as uncertainty grew over the potential impact of the tariffs.

However, signs of a pullback have been seen in recent weeks.

Ukraine has said Russia fired more than 100 drones overnight, despite attempts from Kyiv’s allies to get Moscow to begin a 30-day ceasefire.

Ukrainian air defences destroyed 55 of the 108 drones that Russia launched since 11pm (20:00 GMT) on Sunday, Ukraine’s air force said in a statement on Monday, the day to begin the ceasefire proposed by Kyiv and its European allies to Russia.

The attacks also included 30 simulator drones that were lost along the way without hitting anything. Drones were shot down in the east, north, south and central parts of Ukraine, the air force said.

One person was wounded and residential buildings were damaged in the southern Odesa region, the military administration said. The attacks also damaged railway infrastructure and wounded a train driver in the eastern Donetsk region.

Ukrainian national railway operator Ukrzaliznytsia said “ceasefire proposals are being ignored, and the enemy continues attacks on railway infrastructure”.

Ceasefire calls, direct talks proposal

On a visit to Kyiv on Saturday, the leaders of France, Germany, Poland, and the United Kingdom called on Russia to agree to an unconditional ceasefire from Monday to allow for peace talks – a proposal they said was backed by the United States.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday proposed direct negotiations with Ukraine in Istanbul on May 15, without specifically addressing the European call but criticising “ultimatums” and “anti-Russian rhetoric”.

“We do not exclude that during these talks we will be able to agree on some new ceasefire,” Putin added.

Insisting that a ceasefire should take effect first, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy later said he would be prepared to meet Putin in Turkiye – but did not say whether he would still attend if Russia refused the truce proposal.

It came after US President Donald Trump said in a social media post Ukraine should agree to Putin’s proposal for direct talks “immediately”.

European leaders, however, reacted with scepticism to Putin’s proposal, with French President Emmanuel Macron warning that he was merely trying “to buy time”.

“An unconditional ceasefire is not preceded by negotiations, by definition,” Macron told reporters as he stepped off a train in the Polish city of Przemysl on his return from Ukraine.

Meanwhile, European ministers were set to meet in the United Kingdom on Monday for “critical” talks on “repelling Russian aggression”, in what will be the sixth gathering of the Weimar+ group.

British Foreign Secretary David Lammy was expected to announce further sanctions targeting those backing Russia’s invasion. “The challenge we face today is not only about the future of Ukraine – it is existential for Europe as a whole,” Lammy said before the talks.

At least 130 civilians belonging to the Fulani ethnic group were killed by Burkina Faso’s army and allied militias near the western town of Solenzo in March, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has said.

The killings took place amid a major weeks-long military campaign by special forces that resulted in “widespread civilian deaths and massive displacement” of the Fulani pastoralist community in the region, the rights group said in a report on Monday.

It added that an Al-Qaeda-affiliated group called the Jamaat Nusrat al-Islam wa al-Muslimin (JNIM) then carried out a series of retaliatory attacks, hitting villages that the armed group perceived as having assisted the military.

Ilaria Allegrozzi, senior Sahel researcher at HRW, said in a statement the “the viral videos of the atrocities by pro-government militias near Solenzo” that cirinitially circulated “told only part of the story”.

“Further research uncovered that Burkina Faso’s military was responsible for these mass killings of Fulani civilians, which were followed by deadly reprisals by an Islamist armed group,” Allegrozzi added.

“The government needs to impartially investigate these deaths and prosecute all those responsible.”

‘Many women and children died’

HRW had reported in March that the government’s involvement was likely due to video evidence online.

At that time, the government strongly denied the allegations, saying in a statement it “condemned the propagation, on social media, of images inducing hate and community violence, and fake information aimed at undermining social cohesion” in the West African country.

Burkina Faso’s government and army did not immediately react to Monday’s report, which alleged that the Burkinabe army “led and participated in the massacre of more than 130, possibly many more, ethnic Fulani civilians by pro-government militias”.

The rights organisation’s report is based on interviews with witnesses to the attacks, militia members, journalists and civil society members.

Witnesses quoted by HRW said hundreds of government troops and drones, as well as a pro-government militia called the Volunteers for the Defense of the Homeland (VDP), were involved in attacks on Solenzo and other towns in the western Boucle du Mouhoun region.

The witnesses said most of the victims in Banwa province were women, children and older people.

Military helicopters and drones surveilled the area, “indicating direct command control of the operation”, HRW said.

A 44-year-old Fulani herder, who lost eight family members, told HRW that thousands of families from more than 20 villages were forced to flee to neighbouring Mali in search of protection.

“However, we couldn’t reach Mali without crossing villages [that were] occupied by the VDPs and the army. The VDPs shot at us like animals, while drones were flying over our heads. Many women and children died because they could not run,” he said.

Military rulers took power in Burkina Faso in 2022, but they have largely failed to provide the stability promised, as more than 60 percent of the country is estimated to be outside government control.