US to delay China tariffs on some products

WASHINGTON: The Trump administration on Tuesday delayed imposing a 10 per cent import tariff on laptops, cell phones, video game consoles and a wide range of other products made in China, in an abrupt pull-back from a hardline stance on Chinese trade.

The US Trade Representative’s Office action was published just minutes after China’s Ministry of Commerce said Vice Premier Liu He conducted a phone call with US trade officials.

The delay in the tariffs that had been scheduled to start next month provides some relief to retailers. Although most stores would have stocked their holiday merchandise before the earlier September deadline, some might have faced the tariffs for fill-in orders late in the holiday shopping season.

The decision came less than two weeks after President Donald Trump said on August 1 he would impose a 10 per cent tariff on $300 billion of Chinese goods, blaming China for not following through on promises to buy more American agricultural products.

The administration is still moving forward with 10 per cent tariffs on much of the $300 billion list first disclosed in May, publishing a 122-page list of products that will face tariffs beginning September 1, including smartwatches.

Since Trump’s August 1 tweets threatening the new tariffs, the US benchmark S&P stock index has dropped more than 4 per cent.

On Tuesday, technology investors welcomed news of the exemptions, pushing an index of chip stocks up 3.1 per cent, while shares of Apple surged more than 5 per cent and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose more than 500 points.

The exemptions, combined with renewed talks with China, suggest Trump may be willing to compromise. — Reuters