The executive order will take over the triple girders of Chinese products as US retailers prepare for the crucial end-of-year holiday season.
Trump’s higher tariff rates start with most global imports
In the middle of the night on Thursday, higher tariff charges were effective for most global imports.
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump extended the tariff ceasefire with China by another 90 on August 11, White House officials said it hindered the triple-digit duties on Chinese products, as U.S. retailers are preparing for the crucial holiday season at the end of the year.
When asked at a press conference whether he plans to maintain lower tariff charges, Trump signed an executive order delaying the launch of higher tariffs until mid-November, shortly after giving reporters a non-committal answer. On August 10, Trump asked China to buy US soybeans four times, but it remains unclear whether Beijing agreed.
The tariff ceasefire between Beijing and Washington was scheduled to expire at 12:10am ET on August 12th. The timing of the expansion time until early November buys important times for seasonal autumn surges in the Christmas season, such as electronics, apparel, and toys.
New orders prevent US tariffs on Chinese products from shooting up to 145%, while China tariffs on US products have been set to reach 125%. For now, at least there is a 30% tariff on Chinese imports, and China’s obligation to imports from the US is 10%.
“We’ll see what happens,” Trump told reporters early on August 10, highlighting what he calls a good relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
“This is positive news. It has been demonstrated that both the US and China, combined with some of the escalating measures they have taken in recent weeks, are trying to see if they can enter into some sort of contract for the XI-Trump meeting this fall.”
Trump told CNBC last week that the US and China are very close to a trade deal and will meet with XI by the end of the year if the deal occurs.
The trade “Dentente” continued
Both sides in May agreed to a 90-day period, which announced a ceasefire in the trade dispute after talks in Geneva, Switzerland, allowing further consultations. They met again in Stockholm, Sweden in late July, and US negotiators returned to Washington on the recommendation that Trump would extend the deadline.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bescent has repeatedly stated that the triple girders import duties that slapped each other’s goods in the spring were unacceptable and essentially imposed a trade embargo between the two biggest economies of the world.
“It’s not Trump-style negotiations,” said Kelly Anne Shaw, a senior White House trade official, along with Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, a senior White House trade official during Trump’s first term.
She said it is likely that Trump sought further concessions from China before agreeing to an extension. Trump called for additional concessions on August 10, urging China to quadruple its soybean purchases, but analysts questioned the feasibility of such a deal. Trump did not repeat demand on August 11th.
“The reason for the 90-day suspension to begin with was to lay the foundation for a wider range of negotiations, with a lot of noise on everything from soybeans to export controls to excess capacity over the weekend,” Shaw said.
Ryan Majels, now a former US trade officer at King & Spalding’s law firm, said the news would give both sides more time through years of trade concerns.
“This will definitely reduce anxiety on both sides as consultations continue and as the US and China work towards a fall framework deal,” he said.
Imports from China surged earlier this year, beating Trump’s tariffs but fell sharply in June, Commerce Department data showed last week. The US trade deficit with China fell to $9.5 billion in June, about a third. The narrowest since February 2004. The five-month decline was five months, and the US trade gap with China was reduced by $22.2 billion, a 70% reduction from the previous year.
The official announcement was not made immediately. The Treasury Department and the offices of the US Trade Representative did not respond to requests for comment.
Washington has also pressed Beijing to stop buying Russian oil, and Trump has threatened to impose secondary tariffs on China.
(Reporting by Trevor Hunniccutt and Andrea Shallal, Editing by Bernadette Baum, Rod Nickel, and Nia Williams)
