US President Donald Trump reportedly signed an order delaying the reimposition of higher tariffs on Chinese goods on Monday, hours before a trade truce between Washington and Beijing was due to expire.
The halt on steeper tariffs will be in place for another 90 days, the Wall Street Journal and CNBC reported, citing Trump administration officials. The White House did not respond to queries on the matter.
While the United States and China slapped escalating tariffs on each other’s products this year, reaching prohibitive triple-digit levels and snarling trade, both countries in May agreed to temporarily lower them.
But their 90-day halt of steeper levies was due to expire Tuesday.
Asked about the deadline earlier Monday, Trump said: “We’ll see what happens. They’ve been dealing quite nicely. The relationship is very good with President Xi (Jinping) and myself.”
Trump also touted the tariff revenue his country has collected since his return to the White House, saying “we’ve been dealing very nicely with China.”
“We hope that the US will work with China to follow the important consensus reached during the phone call between the two heads of state,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said in a statement.
He added that Beijing also hopes Washington will “strive for positive outcomes on the basis of equality, respect and mutual benefit.”
The full text of Trump’s latest order has yet to be released. The 90-day extension means the truce is set to expire in early November, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Shaky truce
Even as both countries reached a pact to cool tensions after high level talks in Geneva in May, the de-escalation has been shaky.
In June, key economic officials convened in London as disagreements emerged and US officials accused their counterparts of violating the pact. Policymakers met again in Stockholm last month.
US trade envoy Jamieson Greer said last month that Trump will have the “final call” on any such extension.
Trump said in a social media post late Sunday that he hoped China will “quickly quadruple its soybean orders,” adding that this would be a way to balance trade with the United States.
For now, the extension of a truce means that US tariffs on Chinese goods this year stand at 30 percent.
Under their de-escalation, Beijing’s corresponding levy on US products stood at 10 percent.
Since returning to the presidency in January, Trump has slapped a 10-percent “reciprocal” tariff on almost all trading partners, aimed at addressing trade practices Washington deemed unfair.
This surged to varying steeper levels last Thursday for dozens of economies.
Major partners like the European Union, Japan and South Korea now see a 15-percent US duty on many products, while the level went as high as 41 percent for Syria.
The “reciprocal” tariffs exclude sectors that have been separately targeted, such as steel and aluminum, and those that are being investigated like pharmaceuticals and semiconductors.
They are also expected to exclude gold, although a clarification by US customs authorities made public last week caused concern that certain gold bars might still be targeted.
Trump on Monday said that gold imports will not face additional tariffs, without providing further details.
The US president has taken separate aim at individual countries such as Brazil over the trial of former president Jair Bolsonaro, who is accused of planning a coup, and India over its purchase of Russian oil.
Canada and Mexico come under a different tariff regime.
