In a meeting between President Trump and China’s Xi Jinping, Trump agreed to delay the increase in tariffs scheduled for January 1, 2019 while trade talks continue.
The tariffs in question were set to jump from 10% to 25%, but this increase will not take place while the two countries engage in further trade talks. The talks are currently expected to last 90 days.
The White House said late Saturday that President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping had agreed to a truce in the ongoing trade war, and Mr. Trump agreed not to raise tariffs any further. Both presidents called the meeting “highly successful,” although the White House statement left out any details.. . . . White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said both leaders have agreed to address several issues, including the need to protect so-called “intellectual property,” a key issue for American businesses worried about losing competitive technology. Other issues include “structural changes with respect to forced technology transfer, non-tariff barriers, cyber intrusions and cyber theft, services and agriculture.” Discussions will begin immediately with a goal of concluding within 90 days.Tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese products were set to jump from 10 percent to 25 percent after Jan. 1, 2019.
In addition to this agreement, the White House announced that China has reportedly agreed to purchase agricultural product from U. S. farmers.
At a post-G20 summit meeting in Buenos Aires, Mr Trump agreed not to boost tariffs on $200bn (£157bn) of Chinese goods from 10% to 25% on 1 January.China will buy a “very substantial” amount of agricultural, industrial and energy products, the US says.Meanwhile, Beijing says the two sides agreed to open up their markets.Mr Trump and Mr Xi held a “highly successful meeting”, the White House says in a statement.It says the US tariffs on Chinese goods will remain unchanged for 90 days, but warns: “If at the end of this period of time, the parties are unable to reach an agreement, the 10 percent tariffs will be raised to 25 percent.”The US says China agreed to “purchase a not yet agreed upon, but very substantial, amount of agricultural, energy, industrial, and other products from the United States to reduce the trade imbalance between our two countries”.
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