Trump Announces China Will Cut Auto Tariffs
President Trump announced Sunday night that China will “reduce and remove” tariffs on U.S.-made cars, which are currently at 40 percent.
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
The president did not give details about when the reduced tariffs would go into effect or how much lower they would be.
The Chinese government has not yet commented on Trump’s statement.
The announcement comes after Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday negotiated a halt to their countries’ trade war and agreed not to impose further tariffs, at least temporarily. The two world leaders and their delegations spoke over a two-and-a-half-hour dinner after the G-20 summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
“This was an amazing and productive meeting with unlimited possibilities for both the United States and China,” Trump said. “It is my great honor to be working with President Xi.”
Saturday’s agreement means U.S. tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese goods will hold at 10 percent instead of rising to 25 percent on January 1.
China also said it would purchase “a very substantial amount of agricultural, energy, industrial, and other product from the United States to reduce the trade imbalance between our two countries,” read a statement from White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders.
“If at the end of this period of time, the parties are unable to reach an agreement, the 10 percent tariffs will be raised to 25 percent,” the press secretary said.
During the summer, China reduced tariffs on imported cars from 25 percent to 15 percent. Almost immediately afterwards, however, the mammoth economy targeted American cars and other products with a new 25 percent tariff. The hike was a counterpunch to Trump raising tariffs on Chinese autos from 2.5 percent to 27.5 percent.
China accused the U.S. in July of starting “the biggest trade war in economic history.”
Trump has slapped more and more tariffs on Chinese goods in recent months, causing trepidation among investors and companies about whether the moves would negatively affect the U.S. economy.
