Trump's trade deal with China doesn't actually change current tariff levels

U.S. China.
(Image credit: MARK SCHIEFELBEIN/AFP/Getty Images)

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.

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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.

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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.