Trump's former Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said the US-China deal was not comprehensive

Trump’s first-term Secretary of Commerce, Wilbur Ross, believes the US-China deal was still far from complete despite President Trump claiming it was “done.” Ross added that the recent deal in London had not addressed many important issues, including intellectual property, so it was too soon to claim victory.

The former Commerce Secretary claimed that the just-ended London talks only reiterated the deal they thought they had set a few weeks ago. However, Trump contradicted Ross on Wednesday morning, saying that the deal with China was done. 

China and the U.S. reached a trade framework agreement on Tuesday after their negotiation teams held two-day talks in London. Trump claimed that China had agreed to supply full magnets and any necessary rare metals upfront. At the same time, the U.S. was ready to fulfill China’s demands, including allowing Chinese students to use American colleges and universities.

Ross believes finalizing tariff deals ahead of July is important for markets

Ross said it was important to complete at least a few deals with key trading partners, including China, before July. The former Commerce Secretary claimed it would help clear the air for the stock market because it would start to show a direction and that there was a way to resolve all these things. He also added that it was crucial from a bond market point of view and an equity market point of view.

Ross previously said the chaos was inevitable given the scale and the scope of Trump’s tariffs and how they came in as one big shock wave, adding that it was tough to adjust to uncertainty. He pointed out that Trump should have done much more to ease investors’ fears and guarantee his success. The former trade negotiator asserted that a slower, more deliberate tariff rollout might have avoided some of the fallout between the U.S. and its trade partners like China.

“You can adjust to good news. You can adjust to bad news. But it’s very hard to adjust to uncertainty. That’s why I think markets will calm down once he makes a trade deal with one or two of the big countries.”

–Wilbur Ross, Former Commerce Secretary 

However, Ross questioned whether it was wise to slap major tariffs on U.S. trading partners before Trump and the Republican majorities that control Congress could pass tax cuts to offset the shock to the economy from spiking the cost of imports. 

China says it will take strong measures to defend its interests

*CHINA SAYS HOLD CANDID TALKS WITH US

*CHINA URGES US TO RESOLVE DISPUTES VIA DIALOG: CCTV

*CHINA SAYS NO WINNERS IN TRADE WAR

— Michael Brown (@MrMBrown) June 11, 2025

China’s Ministry of Commerce claimed that Washington had “seriously undermined” the agreement reached during talks in Geneva last month when both countries lowered tariffs on imported goods. A spokesperson from the Chinese Commerce Ministry added that U.S. actions had also severely violated the consensus reached during a phone call in January between China’s leader, Xi Jinping, and President Trump. However, China said that although the U.S. had “severely violated” its trade truce, it would take strong measures to defend its interests.

Beijing said U.S. violations of the agreement included stopping computer chip design software sales to Chinese companies, warning against using chips made by Chinese tech giant Huawei, and canceling visas for Chinese students. However, Trade Representative Jamieson Greer later accused China of not removing non-tariff barriers as agreed under the deal.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Trump and Xi could hold talks soon amid accusations that talks between Washington and Beijing were not going well. Bessent said that details of the U.S.-China trade agreement would be “ironed out” once Xi and Trump spoke, but he did not say exactly when that conversation was expected to happen.

National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett also said the two leaders were expected to talk, and both sides were willing to strike a mutually beneficial deal. However, Hassett warned that both sides needed to prepare if things did not go as expected.

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