On Monday, to the surprise of global investors, the U.S. and China agreed to a 90-day trade deal. The deal slashed tariffs between the two countries and sent stocks surging. Leading the negotiations on the U.S. side was Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. WSJ’s Brian Schwartz, who covered the talks in Geneva, explains how Bessent became President Trump’s man on trade policy and got China to ‘yes’ on a temporary truce. Jessica Mendoza hosts. Further Listening: -Made In America? Shoe Companies Already Tried That. -Taking Stock of the ‘Sell America’ Trade -China Unleashes A Trade War Arsenal -Tariff Trade-Off: Jobs vs. Higher Prices Sign up for WSJ’s free What’s News newsletter . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Brian, welcome back. How was your trip?
It was wild. It was a crazy few days. We landed on a Friday, and it just carried in for 72 hours of pure nonstop work. We did not stop working. It was nuts.
Our colleague Brian Schwartz covers economic policy, and he spent the weekend in Geneva, Switzerland, where trade negotiations between the U.S. and China were taking place.
So the United States and China were meeting, really officially at least, for the first time to talk about this ongoing trade war between both countries. It was a big deal going into it just for the fact that they were having these talks.
But beyond the fact that the two delegations were meeting, Brian didn't know much.
The Trump administration would determine to keep these meetings a secret outside of the fact that they were happening in Switzerland. It wasn't even entirely clear based on their one-line announcement of their meetings with China if this was even going to be in Geneva itself. That is how secret this was.
So I decided the first day of talks on that Saturday to stake out the lobby of the Intercontinental Hotel very early in the morning.
Brian was on the lookout for U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Besson and his entourage.
And we're waiting there. And basically the way it went was they got into this convoy of black vehicles, tinted windows, and they were just waiting there, those vehicles, at the entrance of the hotel. And you've got basically a split second to make a really simple decision. You're either going to follow them there or you're not. And I decided to follow them there. So I ran to a taxi.
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