Trump's trade deal with China doesn't actually change current tariff levels
America's new trade deal with China isn't really doing much.
Trump announced Friday that he and China had agreed on a deal that halts his plan to increase tariffs from 25 to 30 percent next week. But it doesn't lower those tariffs on $250 billion of Chinese goods or call off increases slated for December, making it truly the "phase one" agreement Trump described it as.
The agreement announced Friday isn't so much of a deal as it is a break in more than year of tensions between the U.S. and China. Beyond halting the tariff increase, China also said it would buy $40 to $50 billion of U.S. farm goods. "We've come to a deal on intellectual property, financial services," Trump also said without expanding on what that deal entails. There will be a "phase two" deal that encompasses more of the U.S.'s issues with China, Trump added, though he did suggest Hong Kong's fight with the mainland would "take care of itself."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Trump has spent 15 months in a deadlock with China on trade, spurring soybean surpluses for U.S. farmers and heightened prices on some consumer goods. Reports that the deal had been reached sent the stock market up, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average closing up 320 points, or 1.2 percent, at the end of the day.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.
-
NY attorney general asks public for ICE raid footageSpeed Read Rep. Dan Goldman claims ICE wrongly detained four US citizens in the Canal Street raid and held them for a whole day without charges
-
Trump’s huge ballroom to replace razed East WingSpeed Read The White House’s east wing is being torn down amid ballroom construction
-
Trump expands boat strikes to Pacific, killing 5 moreSpeed Read The US military destroyed two more alleged drug smuggling boats in international waters
-
Warner Bros. explores sale amid Paramount bidsSpeed Read The media giant, home to HBO and DC Studios, has received interest from multiple buying parties
-
Gold tops $4K per ounce, signaling financial uneaseSpeed Read Investors are worried about President Donald Trump’s trade war
-
Electronic Arts to go private in record $55B dealspeed read The video game giant is behind ‘The Sims’ and ‘Madden NFL’
-
New York court tosses Trump's $500M fraud fineSpeed Read A divided appeals court threw out a hefty penalty against President Trump for fraudulently inflating his wealth
-
Trump said to seek government stake in IntelSpeed Read The president and Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan reportedly discussed the proposal at a recent meeting
-
US to take 15% cut of AI chip sales to ChinaSpeed Read Nvidia and AMD will pay the Trump administration 15% of their revenue from selling artificial intelligence chips to China
-
NFL gets ESPN stake in deal with DisneySpeed Read The deal gives the NFL a 10% stake in Disney's ESPN sports empire and gives ESPN ownership of NFL Network
-
Samsung to make Tesla chips in $16.5B dealSpeed Read Tesla has signed a deal to get its next-generation chips from Samsung
