US and China extend trade truce for another 90 days

United States President Donald Trump on Monday extended a trade truce with China for another 90 days, delaying once again a dangerous showdown between the world’s two biggest economies.

Trump posted on his Truth Social platform that he signed the executive order for the extension, and that “all other elements of the Agreement will remain the same.” Beijing at the same time also announced the extension of the tariff pause, according to the Ministry of Commerce.

The announcement came just a few hours before the previous deadline was set to expire.

Had that happened the US could have increased taxes on Chinese imports from an already high 30%, and Beijing could have responded by raising retaliatory levies on US exports to China.

The pause buys time for the two countries to work out some of their differences, perhaps clearing the way for a summit later this year between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The move has also been welcomed by the US companies doing business with China.

After Trump initially announced tariffs in April, China restricted exports of dual-use goods to some American companies, while banning others from trading or investing in China.

The Chinese Ministry of Commerce said it would stop those restrictions for some companies, while giving others another 90-day extension.

Reaching a pact with China remains unfinished business for Trump. The US president has already upended the global trading system by slapping double-digit tariffs on almost every country on earth

In May, the US and China had averted an economic catastrophe by reducing massive tariffs they'd slapped on each other’s products, which had reached as high as 145% against China and 125% against the U.S.

Those triple-digit tariffs threatened to effectively end trade between the United States and China and caused a frightening sell-off in financial markets.

In a May meeting in Geneva, they agreed to back off and keep talking: America’s tariffs went back down to a still-high 30% and China’s to 10%. Negotiations have been ongoing ever since.