U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Wednesday that the United States has not made any unilateral decision to reduce tariffs on China. This came after President Donald Trump said that the tariffs “will come down substantially, but it won’t be zero.” The Wall Street Journal also reported that the White House is thinking about cutting some of the large tariffs on Chinese goods, possibly by more than half, in an effort to reduce the tensions between the two countries.
Bessent explained that the Trump administration is looking at more than just tariffs when it comes to dealing with China. He said they are also considering issues like government subsidies and trade barriers that don’t involve tariffs. Nevertheless, it is worth noting that right now, there is no set schedule for trade talks with China. In addition, Bessent went on to say that fully fixing the trade relationship between the two countries could take two to three years.
He also noted that the U.S. and India are “very close” to reaching a trade agreement. However, this deal would likely be a general plan at first, rather than a full, detailed contract. Unsurprisingly, the stock market pulled back from earlier highs after these updates. Meanwhile, the 10-year Treasury yield dropped from earlier levels and was last at 4.34%, which was down 6 basis points from where it started the day.
Is SPY a Buy Right Now?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Moderate Buy consensus rating on the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) based on 408 Buys, 89 Holds, and seven Sells assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. Furthermore, the average SPY price target of $644.34 per share implies 19.7% upside potential.
