U.S./China trade talks went into a third day today. But Bessent, the lead U.S. negotiator, was back in the U.S. testifying on Capitol Hill about the budget.
On China, he called the negotiations "successful." And he said he was "confident" that the negotiations will bring balance to the economic relationship.
That's quite a statement given the 2019 "Phase One" trade deal was never adhered to by the Chinese. And the deal agreed to last May was ignored.
Bessent later called the takeaway from the London meetings "an excellent start."
On that note, we are four months into the tariff timeline, which started on February 4th, with a broad 10% tariff on all Chinese goods. That was then raised to "up to" 145%. And lowered to 55% last month, in the 90-day truce.
What has happened to stocks along the way? We've had a full V-shaped move, and today traded back to the opening level of February 4th, almost to the number.
