Trump Extends Deadline on China Tariffs

President Donald Trump says he will delay a threat to impose higher tariffs on imported Chinese goods on March 1, citing “substantial” progress in last week’s trade talks between the two countries.

Trump asserts that negotiators are near accord in such key areas as technology transfer, currency manipulation and protection of intellectual property. China’s government-controlled Xinhua News Agency says only that “substantial” progress was achieved on undisclosed “specific issues” during the high-level talks, which occurred in Washington, D.C.

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin told reporters yesterday that Trump tentatively plans to meet with China President Xi Jinping to sign a trade deal in late March at the president’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. Doing so would avert the White House threat to hike existing 10% tariffs to 25% on $200 billion worth of imported Chinese goods.

U.S. Trade Negotiator Robert Lighthizer says the two sides already have signed several memos of understanding on unidentified issues. On Sunday he described the lengthy MOUs as detailed, specific and binding contracts.

Trump dismissed the term MOU as signifying nothing more than intent to enter an actual contract, and he pressed for a date to finalize a deal. Lighthizer promptly agreed to call the China-U.S. MOUs “trade agreements” instead.