Trade war de-escalation? Washington promises not to hit Beijing with new tariffs

The US has agreed to not impose new tariffs on Chinese exports following talks between the two countries’ leaders, Donald Trump and Xi Jinping, on the sidelines of the G20 summit.

The two sides are also set to restart trade consultations and will have discussions on specific issues, Chinese state media reported on Saturday after the presidents’ meeting. Talks to resolve the trade dispute are to be held “on the basis of equality and mutual respect.”

After the 80-minute meeting, Trump described the highly anticipated talks with Xi as “very good” and said the two sides are “back on track.”

As he talked to the media later on Saturday, the US president said he is not going to remove current tariffs on Chinese goods, though he confirmed that $350 billion worth of Chinese imports will not be slapped with new levies, despite the fact that he could if he wanted to.

“For at least the time being, we’re not going to be lifting tariffs on China. We won’t be adding an additional – you know, tremendous amount of – we have, I guess $350 billion left which could be taxed or could be tariffed, and we’re not doing that,” Trump said. “We’re going to work with China on where we left off to see if we can make a deal.”

He added that Beijing will buy “a tremendous amount” of American agricultural products “very soon and almost immediately.”

The world’s two biggest economies have been locked in a trade war since last year, when Washington slapped Beijing with 25-percent tariffs on $50 billion worth of Chinese technology products, triggering a similar response from Beijing. Since then, the sides have exchanged several rounds of tit-for-tat levies – the latest in June. Back then, the Trump administration increased tariffs on Chinese goods to 25 percent, and China hit back, raising tariffs up to the same rate on 5,000 US goods worth $60 billion.

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