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Donald Trump’s tariff delay ‘adds momentum’ before trade talks – but is a deal likely?
- Analysts split on whether gestures from United States and China have brought a trade agreement closer
3-MIN READ3-MIN
US President Donald Trump’s decision to delay a planned tariff hike on Chinese imports will create momentum for the countries’ next trade talks, Chinese analysts have said – but they remained sceptical as to whether real progress was possible in the short term.
Trump tweeted late on Wednesday that he would delay the next planned tariff increase – from 25 per cent to 30 per cent on US$250 billion of Chinese goods – by two weeks, until October 15.
The increase was originally due to take effect on the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China.
The president said he had made the decision “at the request of Vice-Premier of China Liu He”, Beijing’s top trade negotiator, and as “a gesture of goodwill … due to the fact that the People’s Republic of China will be celebrating their 70th anniversary on October 1”.
In a gesture of its own, China on Wednesday unveiled a list of 16 types of products that it would exempt from its next round of additional tariffs on US goods, as the two sides prepare for their latest trade talks. The product types included industrial grease, medicines, insecticides and fish meal for animal feed.
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