US and China extend 90-day tariff truce; UK wage growth steady, vacancies fall
Date: 2025-08-12T06:19:23.000Z
Title: Introduction: US and China extend 90-day tariff truce; UK pay growth steady, vacancies fall
Content: Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of business, the financial markets and the world economy.
The US and China have extended their truce on trade tariffs for another 90 days, staving off triple-digit duties on imports just as US retailers start stockpiling for the key end-of-year holiday season.
Donald Trump posted on his Truth Social platform that he signed the executive order for the extension, and that 'all other elements of the Agreement will remain the same'. Beijing's Commerce Ministry announced the extension of the tariff pause early on Tuesday.
Trump's executive order stated:
The United States continues to have discussions with the PRC [People's Republic of China] to address the lack of trade reciprocity in our economic relationship and our resulting national and economic security concerns.
Through these discussions, the PRC continues to take significant steps towards remedying non-reciprocal trade arrangements and addressing the concerns of the United States relating to economic and national security matters.
The tariff pause was due to expire on Tuesday at 12:01am EDT. The extension until November will be welcomed by US retailers who are now able to buy electronics, toys and other products at lower tariff rates ahead of Christmas.
Trump had threatened tariffs on Chinese goods imports of up to 145% while Chinese duties on US goods were set to hit 125%.
'We'll see what happens,' the US president said at a news conference on Monday, flagging what he called his good relationship with Chinese president Xi Jinping.
China said the extension was 'a measure to further implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state during their 5 June call'.
Regular pay growth in the UK held steady at 5% while the unemployment rate stayed at 4.7% and vacancies fell again, according to official figures.
The Office for National Statistics said average wages, excluding bonuses, grew by 5% between April and June, the same pace as in the three months to May, while total pay growth including bonuses slowed slightly to 4.6%.
Vacancies fell by 44,000 between May and July. The statistics office said feedback suggests 'some firms may not be recruiting new workers or replacing workers who have left'.
We've published the latest labour market figures.Commenting on today's figures, ONS Director of Economic Statistics Liz McKeown said: (quote 1 of 2)💬Read the latest Labour market overview ➡️ https://t.co/ChjjxjRCiA pic.twitter.com/yKrxqKFFvO
Liz McKeown continued: (quote 2 of 2) 💬 pic.twitter.com/t1oLcn6irH
At lunchtime UK time, we'll be getting the latest US inflation data.
The Agenda
10am BST: Germany/Eurozone ZEW economic survey
1.30pm BST: US inflation for July (previous: 2.7%; forecast: 2.8%)
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