The world got a taste of an effective U.S.-China trade embargo, and after a breakthrough on Monday with lowered tariffs, there's no going back. China now has the "mutual respect" it has long craved from the U.S.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC's Joe Kernen that "there is a sense of mutual respect" during the talks, a point that U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer also emphasized in his remarks to the press on Monday.

That's in stark contrast to how the first high-level bilateral meeting under the Biden administration kicked off with an exchange of insults in Alaska, followed by a "balloon incident" that delayed then-U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken's first visit to China for months.
What's also rare is that on Monday, the U.S. and China released a joint statement something both sides haven't done since November 2023 with the "Sunnylands" statement on climate cooperation.

Looking ahead, it will be critical to see whether joint statements will be issued after major meetings, or revert to separate readouts, a senior advisor to world governments and business leaders, who has regular dialogue with top officials from both countries, told CNBC. The source requested anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the conversations.

The source expects volatility is likely around tariffs an important point of flexibility for Trump as a tool for managing relations with major powers. The source added that a possible resolution could involve large Chinese purchases from the U.S., investments in the U.S. that create jobs, while Beijing gets concessions core to its interests.

Source: CNBC