🌏 Don't blink

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ByQuartz Staff

Published4 hours ago

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Image for article titled 🌏 Don't blink — Photo: Chip Somodevilla (Getty Images)

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Here’s what you need to know

Cease and assist. The U.S. and China just announced they’ll pause and roll back most of their sky-high reciprocal tariffs for 90 days while negotiations continue.

Art of the — no big — deal

A trade war that started with fireworks is quietly winding down. Trump — who once claimed tariffs were “good and easy to win” — has seemingly walked back his economic shock-and-awe campaign against China. No choreographed Rose Garden moment. No “Mission Accomplished” banner. Just a muted de-escalation framework announcement and a 90-day timer on what now looks more like a pivot than a power play.

After the president torched U.S.-China trade with eyebrow-raising tariffs (145% at their peak) and fanning the flames on Truth Social, Trump’s team — led by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent — emerged from Geneva with 30% tariffs on China, vaguely defined commitments, and a big ol’ market sigh of relief. Beijing? Calm, collected, and claiming victory on state-run socials. Wall Street? Euphoric at the chance to breathe again. And Trump? Already spinning this as an “opening up” for American business — conveniently ignoring the fact that he may have just climbed down from a ledge he built himself.

Still, Trump gets to say “deal,” even if the details are more smoke than substance. The market’s reacting positively for now, even as some analysts are already questioning the long-term impact of a 30% tariff, especially when they’re waiting for the 90-day clock to run out. The real question: Is this the first step toward stability? Or is it just a ceasefire dressed in camouflage?

In short: The news is a win for the stock market, but no one’s breaking out the champagne just yet. Quartz’s Shannon Carroll has more on why this “deal” reads more like a draft.

A pause for effect

Big Tech stocks just got a $700 billion sugar rush from the 90-day ceasefire in the U.S.-China trade war that was announced Monday. The Nasdaq leapt 3.5%, leading a market rally that investors spun as a peace dividend — even if the war’s effects still linger in supply chains.

The agreement prompted Wedbush to call the deal a “dream scenario” for Wall Street. But some analysts say the market’s optimism is doing cartwheels over a policy pothole. “It just seems like it’s a different story every day,” one former Morgan Stanley analyst said. As The Kobeissi Letter pointed out, tariffs were at 145% just last month, recession fears were trending, and now — poof! — sentiment has been flipped.

Still, for now, the bulls are running. Whether they’re charging toward a genuine resolution or straight into another diplomatic wall is yet to be determined. Quartz’s Catherine Baab has more on why Big Tech’s not taking a break, even if tariffs are.