Washington: The United States and China agreed to pause tariff hikes on each other’s goods for an additional 90 days, according to an executive order signed by President Donald Trump here.
Without the agreement, tariffs were set to immediately surge, risking a return to ultra-high levels that had formed an effective blockade on trade between the world’s two largest economies, reports CNN.
The news, first reported by CNBC, comes hours ahead of a deadline when tariffs on Chinese goods were set to rise to 54 percent from 30 percent, and Chinese tariffs on American exports would return to 34 percent from 10 percent.
In a joint statement with the US on Monday, China confirmed the 90-day trade truce extension and said it would maintain the 10 percent tariffs it has imposed on American goods during that period. The statement was based on the bilateral negotiations that took place in Sweden last month, it said.
The extension comes after Trump imposed a slew of “reciprocal” tariffs on trading partners around the world, which have raised the United States’ effective tariff rate to levels not seen since the Great Depression.
