U.S. Treasury yields rise as China continues to contend trade agreement

U.S. Treasury yields rose as China pushed back against U.S. accusations of breaking a Geneva trade deal.

At 5 a.m. ET, the 10-year Treasury yield was up just over 2 basis points to 4.445%. As CNBC reported, the 2-year yield moved up less than a basis point to 3.922%. Meanwhile, the 30-year yield increased by more than 4 basis points to 4.981%.

One basis point equals 0.01%, and yields move opposite to bond prices.

Investors are focused on worsening trade ties between the U.S. and China. On Friday, President Donald Trump said China had broken a preliminary trade pact.

On Monday, China rejected those accusations and accused the U.S. of breaking the same agreement. The two sides had paused most tariffs for 90 days, but this dispute has cast doubt on whether that pause will hold.

Adding to concerns, Trump announced on Friday that starting Wednesday, tariffs on imported steel would double to 50%.

At the same time, his administration faces a court fight over existing tariffs. On Wednesday, the U.S. Court of International Trade struck down many of the president’s tariffs. A day later, however, a federal appeals court paused that ruling, keeping the duties in place for now.

No clear end to trade policy confusion

“It is really hard to keep up or predict what’s going to happen on trade at the moment, and that’s before we factor in the full ramifications from the court ruling last Thursday night, and then subsequent brief stay of execution for them on appeal,” Deutsche Bank analysts said in a note.

“For now it seems likely that the tariff uncertainty will linger for a long time ahead even if we’re still likely past the peak aggressiveness of U.S. policy.”

This week, investors will also get several economic reports that could show how tariffs are affecting growth. One key report is the May nonfarm payrolls figure, due on Friday, which will reveal how many jobs were added last month.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that the U.S. is not going to miss its debt payments. “That is never going to happen,” he said.

“We are on the warning track and we will never hit the wall.” His comments came just days before the Senate resumes talks over President Trump’s tax and spending bill, which Republicans are using as leverage to raise the federal debt ceiling.

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