US, China extend 90-day tariff truce as Trump keeps up pressure

The Mainichi

7 hours ago

WASHINGTON (Kyodo) -- U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday signed an executive order extending a tariff truce with China for 90 days until Nov. 10, the White House said, with the Chinese government also announcing the extension.
Without Trump's move, an additional tariff rate of 24 percent on Chinese goods coming into the United States would have taken effect early Tuesday, raising trade tensions between the world's two largest economies.
Coupled with a separate 20 percent tariff in place over the flow of fentanyl into the United States, the Trump administration has imposed 30 percent levies on imports from China since he became president for a second time.
After high-level trade talks in Stockholm in late July, officials had said the United States and China planned to extend the pause.
In the executive order, Trump said China "continues to take significant steps toward remedying non-reciprocal trade arrangements and addressing the concerns of the United States relating to economic and national security matters."
"Based on this additional information and recommendations from various senior officials, among other things, I have determined that it is necessary and appropriate to continue the suspension," he said.
The two countries also released a joint statement on the Stockholm meeting that showed both sides had agreed to refrain from applying a 24 percent tariff rate on imports from each other for an additional 90 days from Tuesday.
The document also said Beijing will adopt or maintain all necessary measures to suspend or remove the nontariff countermeasures taken against the United States. Those steps include China's export controls on critical rare-earth minerals used in high-tech products.
Earlier Monday, when asked about extending the truce struck in May, Trump told reporters, "We'll see what happens," adding he and Chinese President Xi Jinping have a "very good" relationship.
In mid-May, the United States and China backed away from their respective triple-digit tariff rates imposed during a trade war launched by Trump, months after he took office for a nonconsecutive second term in January.
Since then, the truce in a tit-for-tat tariff war that both countries agreed to in Geneva during their first round of trade talks has been in place.
Currently, the Trump administration is enforcing a 10 percent tariff as part of a planned 34 percent levy on all Chinese imports. The 10 percent rate was introduced in early April under the "reciprocal" U.S. tariff scheme, with the remainder to be negotiated during the pause.
Separately, Trump has imposed 20 percent extra duties on Chinese goods, accusing Beijing of its failure to curb shipments to North America of precursors used to make fentanyl, the leading cause of overdose deaths in the United States.
China has also retained a 10 percent tariff as part of a 34 percent retaliatory duty on all U.S. goods, with the remaining 24 percent likewise subject to negotiation.
While signaling a conciliatory stance toward Xi, Trump suggested last week that the United States could impose a new tariff on China for continuing to purchase Russian oil, after ordering such a levy on India.
Washington has repeatedly expressed its concern over Beijing's purchase of Russian oil and shipments of dual-use items to Russia, saying they support Moscow in its war against Ukraine.
In a social media post Sunday, the president also demanded that China increase soybean imports from the United States fourfold, continuing to put pressure on the Asian powerhouse.
Bilateral high-level trade talks that have taken place in Europe since May involved U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Trade Representative Jamieson Greer as well as Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, who oversees economic matters.