US President Donald Trump signed an executive order extending the deadline for China tariffs by an additional 90 days.
According to a White House official cited by CNBC on Monday, the extension was announced just hours before Beijing’s midnight, when the 90-day pause was scheduled to end.
Trump claimed said on Monday “we’re getting along with China very well” and that trade talks with China have been “constructive,” a White House fact sheet on the extension stated. Beijing said that it was looking forward to positive outcomes.
Tensions between the two biggest trading partners in the world would have increased if the deadline had passed and duties on Chinese imports had gone back to their April level of 145 percent.
At a summit of negotiators in Geneva, Switzerland, in May, the United States and China decided to temporarily reduce tariffs on each other’s products. Earlier this year, they had imposed prohibitive triple-digit tariffs on each other’s products, causing major disruptions in international trade.
However, the pause in tariffs has been announced while negotiations still loom. “We’ll see what happens,” said Trump, when asked about the deadline on Monday. “They’ve been dealing quite nicely. The relationship is very good with [China’s] President Xi [Jinping] and myself,” he added.
In a statement, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said, “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.”
Beijing also wants Washington to “strive for positive outcomes on the basis of equality, respect, and mutual benefit,” he continued.
In a meeting of key economic leaders in June in London, differences emerged, and US officials accused their counterparts of violating the pact. Last month, policymakers convened once more in Stockholm.
US trade envoy Jamieson Greer stated in July that Trump will have the “final call” on any such extension, even though both nations seemed to be trying to delay the return of tariffs.
Meanwhile, US treasury secretary Scott Bessent said he informed his Chinese counterparts at the end of last month’s meeting that if they continued to buy Russian oil, they would face massive tariffs under congressional legislation that permits Trump to apply levies of up to 500 percent.
The Trump administration’s readiness to act on those threats is not clear. The US president recently threatened to impose 50 percent tariffs on India, which also buys Russian oil, but far less than China, if it keeps doing so by the end of August.
The Indian government has strongly criticised the decision to penalise the country while excluding other nations that buy oil from Russia, arguing that it is being unfairly singled out. However, Trump suggested that other countries may face similar threats. “You’re going to see a lot more. So this is a taste,” he said last week.
China pushed the boundaries of a US trade policy that relies on tariffs as a tool to pressure trading partners into making concessions. However, Beijing has an upper hand over restricting or halting access to its rare earth materials and magnets, which are utilised in everything from jet engines to electric cars.
China and the US reached an agreement to reduce trade tensions in June. The US announced that it would remove export restrictions on ethane, a feedstock used in the manufacturing of petrochemicals, and computer chip technology. Additionally, China consented to facilitate access to rare earths for American companies.
As of now, Beijing’s equivalent tariff on US goods is 10 percent, while new US tariffs on Chinese goods this year are 30 percent.
To rectify trade practices that Washington considered unfair, Trump has imposed a 10 percent “reciprocal” tariff on nearly all trading partners since taking office again in January.