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

(Image credit: MARK SCHIEFELBEIN/AFP/Getty Images)

published 11 October 2019

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."

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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.

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