Trump delays two-week price hikes as "goodwill" to China



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US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping attend a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Osaka on June 29, 2019.

Brendan Smialowski | AFP | Getty Images

President Donald Trump tweeted on Wednesday that he would postpone October's October 15 tariff, plus $ 250 billion on Chinese products, as a "gesture of goodwill" to China.

Trump said the postponement took place "at the request of Chinese Vice Premier Liu He and the fact that the People's Republic of China will celebrate its 70th anniversary".

Rates were to increase from 30% to 25% on the goods. He should be in Washington for talks in early October.

US equity futures jumped more than 0.5% after the announcement of the delay.

Last month, President Trump wanted to double tariff rates on Chinese products after Beijing's latest retaliation in the trade war before settling on a more modest increase, sources said. CNBC. He was scandalized after learning on August 23 that China had formalized its intention to cut tariffs on US goods for $ 75 billion, in response to new tariffs imposed by Washington on September 1.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer then appealed to several CEOs to call Trump and warn him of the impact such a decision would have on the stock market and the economy. .

He decided to raise tariffs on Chinese products by about 5 percent to about $ 550 billion, which he announced in a tweet of August 23 after the market closed.

The following days, Stephanie Grisham, press secretary for Mnuchin and the White House, said Trump's only regret was not to raise the rates.

Earlier this month, Mnuchin said the US and China had reached a "conceptual" agreement on implementation issues, highlighting progress made in trade negotiations, which should resume at high levels. raised next month.

"I think we have at least one concept, an agreement on the field of law enforcement," Mnuchin told Fox Business Network.

He also had a warning: President Donald Trump has no problem maintaining high tariffs on Beijing if an agreement can not be reached.

It's breaking news. Please check again for updates.

Kayla Tausche, Kevin Breuninger and CNBC Reuters contributed to this report.

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