Donald Trump and Chinese Premier Xi Jinping have agreed to call a 90-day halt to the US-China trade war in an attempt to ease tensions following a series of meetings at the G20 Summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
The truce involves both sides agreeing to not increase tariffs on each other’s goods for the 90-day period.
The latest round of US tariffs – due to take 10-25% of duties on US$200 billion worth of Chinese goods when they come into force in January – will remain in place.
It brings a temporary break to the trade war that has seen over a total of $400 billion worth of duties being imposed since April 2017.
China has agreed to reduce and remove tariffs on cars coming into China from the U.S. Currently the tariff is 40%.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 3, 2018
In a statement, The White House confirmed the agreement: “President Trump and President Xi have agreed to immediately begin negotiations on structural changes with respect to forced technology transfer, intellectual property protection, non-tariff barriers, cyber intrusions and cyber theft, services and agriculture.
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“Both parties agree that they will endeavor to have this transaction completed within the next 90 days. If at the end of this period of time, the parties are unable to reach an agreement, the 10% tariffs will be raised to 25%.”
However, China is yet to release an official statement but, according to Reuters, state media has reported on the agreement without giving any further details.
Furthermore, financial industry experts cast doubt over how long the ceasefire would last. Dutch bank ING was quoted on CNBC saying a US-China trade deal would take years to negotiate.
The trade war has been one of 2018’s most contentious topics so far. On November 20 2018, international shipping association BIMCO predicted global trade volumes would shrink in 2019 as a direct result.