In public remarks on Wednesday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the U.S. is willing to negotiate with China, which sent markets higher. The comments from Bessent affirmed a shift toward de-escalation he reportedly shared at a private JPMorgan event a day earlier. Bloomberg News first reported those remarks.

Businesses across multiple industries are hiking prices, backing away from previous financial guidance and warning of growing uncertainty as U.S. President Donald Trump's trade war pushes up costs, upends supply chains and stirs concerns about the global economy.

Of his many obsessions, President Donald Trump’s concern with the U.S. trade deficit is one of his longest standing. The so-called reciprocal tariffs that he recently announced and then paused were set not based on the tariffs those countries impose on American exports but on the balance of trade with each country.