Treasury's Mnuchin: U.S., China trade war prospects 'on hold'

Reuters
U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin speaks during a reception hosted by the Orthodox Union in Jerusalem ahead of the opening of the new U.S. embassy in Jerusalem, May 14, 2018. REUTERS/Ammar Awad

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States and China have agreed to drop their tariff threats on billions of dollars worth of each country's goods while they work on a wider trade agreement, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Sunday.

"We are putting the trade war on hold. Right now we have agreed to put the tariffs on hold while we try to execute the framework," Mnuchin said in a television interview on "Fox News Sunday" in reference to the tentative measures on reducing the trade deficit that the two nations discussed this week.

On Saturday, Beijing and Washington said they would keep talking about measures under which China would import more energy and agricultural commodities from the United States to close the $335 billion annual U.S. goods and services trade deficit with China.

(Reporting by Lindsay Dunsmuir; Editing by Andrea Ricci)