US stocks open higher on Monday after positive trade talks with China

U.S. stocks opened higher on Monday, after China and the United States announced a series of tariff modification measures aimed at easing trade tensions between the world's two largest economies, following talks in Geneva.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average opened at 41,899.05 points, up 649.67 points, or 1.57 percent.

The Standard and Poor's 500 Index opened at 5,807.20 points, up 147.29 points, or 2.60 percent.

The Nasdaq Composite Index opened at 18,674.55 points, up 745.63 points, or 4.16 percent.

The decision to ease simmering trade tensions followed a two-day high-level meeting on economic and trade affairs between China and the U.S., where the two sides issued a joint statement recognizing the importance of their bilateral economic and trade relationship to both countries and the global economy, and emphasizing the need for a sustainable, long-term and mutually beneficial economic and trade relationship.

According to the statement, the United States paused the 24 percent additional ad valorem rate of duty on goods sent from China (including goods from the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the Macao Special Administrative Region) for 90 days starting from April 2, while retaining the remaining rate of 10 percent on those goods. It will also remove the additional tariff rates on imports from China announced on April 8 and 9 respectively.

The pause in tariffs comes after the White House issued Executive Order 14259 on April 8, raising "reciprocal" tariff rates on China to 84 percent. One day later, the White House, in another executive order, hiked the rate to 125 percent.

Ad valorem tax is a tax based on the assessed value of assets, goods or services being taxed.

China says it will modify the application of the additional ad valorem rate of duty on goods from the United States set forth in the Announcement of the Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council No. 4 of 2025, by suspending 24 percent of additional tariffs for an initial period of 90 days, while retaining the remaining additional ad valorem rate of 10 percent on those goods.

It will also remove the modified additional ad valorem rates of duty on those goods imposed by announcements No. 5 and No. 6 issued by the Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council on April 9 and 11 respectively.

China will also adopt all necessary administrative measures to suspend or remove the non-tariff countermeasures taken against the United States since April 2, 2025.

The two sides commit to take the actions by May 14.

The two sides will also establish a mechanism to continue discussions about economic and trade relations. These discussions may be conducted alternately in China and the United States, or a third country upon agreement of the Parties, the statement said.

US stocks open higher on Monday after positive trade talks with China

China's development has never been a "threat" to anyone but the source of growth advancing common development of all countries, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said at a regular press conference in Beijing on Friday.

Some Western media and think tanks are peddling so-called "China Shock 2.0," saying that "China is achieving fast development in high-tech sectors such as renewable energy and AI and relies on foreign markets to absorb its overcapacity, thus reducing the market share of developed countries and sending more serious shock waves to the global economy compared with the era of traditional manufacture industry," while there are foreign commentators saying that the "China Shock 2.0" argument ignores the genuine innovation occurring within the Chinese industrial ecosystem and that Chinese export is the exact booster of the global economy that is needed in the turbulent period and more indispensable than ever.

Commenting on that, Lin said: "From the world's factory to the world's market and innovation powerhouse, China's development is achieved through strong performance driven by innovation and brings tangible cooperation opportunities and space to the world. High-quality Chinese products represented by the 'old three' of textiles, furniture and home appliances have stabilized the global industrial and supply chain, lowered the living cost of global consumers and eased the inflationary pressure worldwide. China's green production capacity represented by the 'new three' of electric vehicles, batteries and solar panels has bridged the gap between supply and demand in global green development and bolstered the global energy transition and low-carbon development. Moreover, China's high-tech products represented by the 'new new three' of robots, AI and innovative drugs have broken high-tech barriers and monopoly and enabled people in more countries to access affordable new technologies," said the spokesman.

"Openness and cooperation bring about progress and win-win result. China's development has never been a 'threat' to anyone but the source of growth advancing common development of all countries. What really creates 'shocks' to the world has never been the innovation of Chinese companies and efficiency of Chinese industrial capacity, but protectionist moves of setting up barriers, decoupling and severing industrial and supply chains. China will stay committed to high-standard opening up, defend the multilateral trading system and provide more certainty and new impetus to the world economy with its own steady development," said Lin.

China's development never a threat: FM spokesman