U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order extending by 90 days the tariff truce with China, removing the risk of an immediate escalation hours before the deadline was set to expire. Trump said that China had taken “significant steps” towards “remedying non-reciprocal trade arrangements and addressing the concerns of the United States relating to economic and national security matters”. The new deadline, according to the order, would be 12 am Eastern time on November 10, and the current 10% “reciprocal” tariff on Chinese imports would continue to be in effect until then. Without the extension of the deadline, U.S. duties on Chinese imports would have climbed back to their levels in April, at the height of the tariff war between the world’s two largest trading nations.
The decision follows two weeks of speculation and mixed signals from Washington, after negotiators from China and the U.S. concluded trade talks in Stockholm, Sweden, last month. After the talks, Chinese negotiators declared a consensus for an extension of the pause on tariff increases, while the American side insisted that no deal would be final without Trump’s explicit approval. Just ahead of the tariff truce deadline, Trump urged China to quadruple its purchases of American soybeans – a major export to China. “China is worried about its shortage of soybeans. Our great farmers produce the most robust soybeans,” he said in a social media post, adding that he hoped China would quickly quadruple its soybean orders to substantially reduce the U.S. trade deficit with China. President Trump promised “rapid service” and thanked President Xi in advance.
China’s soybean imports from the U.S. plunged by 27.8% to USD2.08 billion in the second quarter as the U.S.-China trade war intensified, from USD2.89 billion a year earlier. In terms of volume, China’s soybean imports from the U.S. dropped by 8.7% from 5.02 million metric tons in the same period last year to 4.58 million metric tons. Since April, the U.S. has gradually increased tariffs on Chinese imports to as much as 145%. In retaliation, Beijing imposed tariffs of up to 125% and introduced export controls on strategic raw materials. In May, both sides agreed in Geneva to a 90-day suspension of new tariffs.
Several hurdles continue to hinder improved China-U.S. trade ties, including Washington’s deal with Vietnam aimed at curbing Chinese transshipments, along with the U.S.’s new AI action plan that keeps tight technology restrictions on China in place, the South China Morning Post reports.
