U.S. President Donald Trump reportedly signed an order delaying the reimposition of higher tariffs on Chinese goods on Monday, hours before a trade truce between Washington and Beijing was due to expire. The halt on steeper tariffs will be in place for another 90 days, the Wall Street Journal and CNBC reported, citing Trump administration officials. The White House did not respond to queries on the matter.
While the United States and China slapped escalating tariffs on each other's products this year, reaching prohibitive triple-digit levels and snarling trade, both countries in May agreed to temporarily lower them. But their 90-day halt of steeper levies was due to expire Tuesday.
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Asked about the deadline earlier Monday, Mr. Trump said: "We'll see what happens. They've been dealing quite nicely. The relationship is very good with President Xi (Jinping) and myself."
Mr. Trump also touted the tariff revenue his country has collected since his return to the White House, saying "we've been dealing very nicely with China." "We hope that the U.S. will work with China to follow the important consensus reached during the phone call between the two heads of state," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said in a statement.
