During the G-20 talks this weekend in Argentina, President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to halt new tariffs and not increase tariffs already in place.
The U.S. had been scheduled to increase tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese goods from 10% to 25% on Jan. 1. The agreement keeps those tariffs on thousands of products, including hundreds of types of Chinese castings at 10% for at least the next 90 days while the countries negotiate further.
In addition, the U.S. announced China has agreed to buy more American agricultural, energy, and industrial goods and other products. Trump also said China has agreed to “reduce and remove” tariffs below the 40% level China is charging on U.S.-made vehicles.
The timetable for China’s rollback on the automobile duties remains unclear.
Over the next 90 days, American and Chinese officials will continue to negotiate lingering disagreements on forced technology transfer, intellectual property protection, non-tariff barriers, cyber intrusions and cyber theft. If the parties are unable to reach an agreement, the 10% tariffs will be raised to 25%.
You can view the official White House statement on the temporary truce here. AFS will continue to engage with officials at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) and Commerce Department on these important trade matters, including the tariffs and non-tariff barriers.