China on Thursday announced that it will halve tariffs on hundreds of U.S. goods, which will take effect Feb. 14.
Tariffs on some U.S. goods will be cut from 10% to 5%, and from 5% to 2.5% on others, according to a statement from China’s Ministry of Finance. That will take effect from 1:01 p.m on Feb. 14, it said.
Those tariff cuts will be made on about $75 billion of U.S. imports, according to the ministry.
The statement said the move was made in order to “advance the healthy and stable development of China-U.S. trade.”
China and the U.S. have imposed tariffs on billions of dollars worth of each other’s goods in their trade battle. Both countries have, however, reached a so-called phase one trade agreement which they signed in January.
Under the agreement, the Trump administration scrapped tariffs initially set to take effect December. It also agreed to cut duties on $120 billion in products to 7.5%.
Still, the White House has said it will leave tariffs on another $250 billion in Chinese products in place for now. On Wednesday, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said a second phase of the agreement that the U.S. hopes to strike could include more tariff relief.
Source: CNBC
