US extends tariff breather to China by 90 days

Washington: US President Donald Trump extended a trade truce with China for another 90 days on Monday, at least delaying once again a dangerous showdown between the world’s two biggest economies. Trump posted on his Truth Social platform that he signed the executive order for the extension, and that “all other elements of the Agreement will remain the same.”

The previous deadline was set to expire at 12.01 am on Tuesday. Had that happened the US could have ratcheted up taxes on Chinese imports from an already high 30 per cent, and Beijing could have responded by raising retaliatory levies on US exports to China. The pause buys time for the two countries to work out some of their differences, perhaps clearing the way for a summit later this year between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, and it has been welcomed by the US companies doing business with China.