MASERU — Amidst talks of a trade deal, the United States of America and the People’s Republic of China have announced a 90 days suspension of part of their tariffs, according to a joint statement.
Both nations would reciprocally decrease their tariffs by 115%.
That effectively means the US will temporarily lower its overall tariffs on Chinese goods from 145% to 30%, while China will cut its levies on American imports from 125% to 10%.
The two sides also agreed to establish “a mechanism to continue discussions about economic and trade relations,” led by Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng and US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, it said.
It adds that both parties have agreed to implement the measures by May 14 (Wednesday).
The statement indicates that Bessent stated that they have reached an agreement on a 90-day pause and substantially moved down the tariff levels.
It says he described the negotiations with China as constructive and remarked that “both sides showed great respect.”
Bessent said that the US and China have established effective protocols to prevent future escalations.
Moreover it notes that China stated its intention to halt or eliminate non-tariff countermeasures against the US that were implemented since April 02.
Meanwhile the Oil prices surge over 3% following the tariff pause between China and U.S. The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong witnessed a significant rise of 3.34 per cent on Monday, following the announcement from China and the United States about temporarily halting their respective trade tariffs.
The decision aims to reduce the ongoing trade friction between the two major economic powers. The index climbed by 762.94 points, reaching 23,630.68.
These talks occurred in Geneva, Switzerland over the weekend, following President Donald Trump’s implementation of high tariffs and China’s subsequent retaliation…
