After 125% tariffs, tit-for-tat moves: Why Trump announced 90-day pause on China duties

In a insurance policy dislodge, US chairwoman Donald ruff on mon announced a postponement of the planned hike in tariffs on Chinese goods, just hours before the trade truce between Washington and Beijing was set to end.

The White House's halt on steeper tariffs will be in place until November 10.

"I have just signed an Executive Order that will extend the Tariff Suspension on China for another 90 days," Donald Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

Earlier this year, Washington and Beijing imposed increasingly steep tariffs on each other’s goods, pushing them to crippling triple-digit rates and disrupting trade. However, in May, both sides agreed to scale them back temporarily.

In the executive order posted Monday to its website, the White House reiterated its position that there are “large and persistent annual US goods trade deficits” and they “constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and economy of the United States.”

The order acknowledged Washington's ongoing discussions with Beijing "to address the lack of trade reciprocity in our economic relationship" and noted that China has continued to “take significant steps toward remedying” the US complaints, news agency AFP reported.

January 21: A day after taking office, Donald Trump threatened 10% penalty on Chinese imports, citing fentanyl flowing from China.

February 1: Trump imposed 0% on goods from China along with 25% on Mexico and Canada, demanding they curb the flow of fentanyl and illegal immigrants into the US.

February 4: In a tit-for-tat move, China responded with a wide range of measures targeting US businesses, including Google, farm equipment makers and the owner of fashion brand Calvin Klein.

Beijing also slapped levies of 15% on imports of US coal and LNG and 10% for crude oil and some autos, beginning February 10. It also restricted exports of five metals used in defence, clean energy and other industries.

March 3: The US doubled fentanyl-related tariffs on all Chinese imports, increasing levies to 20%, effective March 4.

March 4: China hit back with 10-15% retaliatory levies on US agriculture exports, affecting about $21 billion in US exports. Beijing also imposed export and investment curbs on 25 US firms, on grounds of national security and banned imports of genetic sequencers from US medical equipment maker Illumina.

April 2: Trump escalated global trade friction with sweeping "liberation day" tariffs, announcing a baseline 10% across all imports and significantly higher duties on some countries. Trump levies 34% on all Chinese goods, took effect on April 9.

The Trump administration also decided to end duty-free access for low-value shipments from China and Hong Kong, known as "de minimis" exemptions, from May 2.

April 4: China announced retaliatory tariffs of 34% on all US imports from April 10 and export curbs on some rare earths. It imposed restrictions on about 30 US organisations, mostly in defence-related industries.

Beijing also suspended sorghum, poultry and bone meal shipments from some US firms.

April 8: The US raised tariff on all Chinese imports to 84% from 34%.

April 9: China raised its levies on US imports to 84% too, and added 12 US companies to a control list that prohibits exports of dual-use items and another six to its "unreliable entities" list, which allows Beijing to take punitive actions against foreign entities.

The US further hiked tariffs on Chinese imports to 125% from 84%. China later on the day issued risk warnings to its citizens against travelling to the US.

April 10: China announced it would immediately restrict imports of Hollywood films.

April 11: China also raised levies on imports of US goods to 125%, dismissing the Trump tariff strategy as “a joke” and indicated it will ignore any further US “numbers game with tariffs”.

May 10-12: Beijing and Washington held high-stakes trade talks over the weekend in Geneva. Both sides released a joint statement agreeing to a 90-day pause on their steep tariffs.

The temporary truce meant US tariffs on China would fall to 30% from 145%, while China tariffs on the US drop to 10% from 125%. China also committed to removing non-tariff countermeasures imposed against the United States since April 2.

May 28-29: The US said will start "aggressively" revoking visas of Chinese students. It also ordered a broad swathe of companies to stop shipping goods covering semiconductors, design software and aviation equipment to China.

June 5: Chinese President Xi Jinping and Trump held an hour-long phone call.

June 9-10: The US and China held a new round of trade talks in London and reach a framework agreement.

July 6: Trump threatened an additional 10% tariff on countries he said were aligning themselves with the "Anti-American policies" of BRICS, which includes China.

July 28-29: The US and Chinese officials agreed to seek an extension of their 90-day tariff truce after two days of talks in Stockholm. Both sides described the talks as constructive, but no major breakthroughs were announced.

August 8: The US started issuing licenses to Nvidia to export its H20 chips to China.

August 11: The US and China extended their tariff truce for another 90 days.

(With inputs from agencies)

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