China said on Wednesday it would extend a suspension of additional tariffs on US goods for one year, making official an agreement reached in talks between presidents Xi Jinping and Donald Trump last week.
The two leaders held talks in South Korea at the end of October that effectively prolonged a delicate truce for a year, after several rounds of trade negotiations in recent months.
A statement published Wednesday on the Ministry of Finance website, citing Beijing鈥檚 State Council, said that 鈥榝or one year the 24 per cent tariff on US goods will continue to be suspended, (and) a 10 per cent tariff on US goods will remain鈥�.
The statement said the pause follows 鈥榯he consensus reached in the China鈥揢S economic and trade consultations鈥� and would be effective from November 10.
Trump on Tuesday formalised an agreement that Washington would cut its additional tariffs on Chinese imports from 20 per cent to 10 per cent, also effective from November 10.
Temperatures have spiked between the world鈥檚 two biggest economies this year as Washington and Beijing imposed escalating tariffs on each other鈥檚 products.
At one point, duties on both sides reached prohibitive triple-digit levels, hampering trade.
The two have been engaged in an uneasy truce since, as top economic leaders met several times for talks in recent months, with tensions surging over export controls and other issues.
Beyond the statement covering the blanket tariffs, China also published several statements on Wednesday suspending related measures hitting different sectors.
In one of them, China said it would 鈥榗ease implementing the additional tariff measures鈥� imposed in a March order hitting a list of American farm products.
That move was a response to Trump doubling additional tariffs on Chinese goods over Beijing鈥檚 handling of fentanyl 鈥� now back to 10 per cent starting next week.
Beijing had placed an additional 15 per cent levy on chicken, wheat, corn and cotton imported from the US and an additional 10 per cent tariff on American soybeans, pork, beef, dairy and other farm products.
That had hurt a key source of Trump鈥檚 political support: farmers.
More than half of US soybean exports went to China last year, but Beijing halted all orders as the trade dispute deepened.
In a sign of thawing ties, Chinese vice-commerce minister and key negotiator Li Chenggang hailed 鈥榠mportant鈥� agricultural trade links between the countries during a Tuesday meeting in Beijing with representatives from the US farming sector.
鈥業t is hoped the United States can work with China, look at the big picture, create favourable atmosphere for pragmatic cooperation on agriculture and other areas,鈥� Li said at the meeting, according to a Wednesday statement by China鈥檚 commerce ministry.
Beijing鈥檚 commerce ministry also announced Wednesday that it would extend suspensions to export control measures on US entities that had been implemented during the tit-for-tat escalation with Washington earlier in the year.
In another statement, the ministry said that restrictions would continue to be suspended for dozens of US defence and aerospace firms.
Those measures had been aimed at limiting US access to 鈥榙ual use鈥� items that could be used for both civilian and military purposes.
Also following talks, Beijing agreed to halt for one year restrictions on the export of rare earths technology.
Rare earths are a strategic field dominated by China and are essential for manufacturing in defence, automobiles and consumer electronics.
Washington in turn agreed to suspend for one year a move imposing 鈥楨ntity List鈥� export restrictions on affiliates of blacklisted foreign companies in which they had at least a 50 per cent stake, the Chinese commerce ministry said.
The United States also said it would halt for a year measures targeting China鈥檚 shipbuilding industry that led to both sides applying port fees against each other鈥檚 ships, it said.
In turn, China would suspend its 鈥榗ountermeasures鈥� after the US action, they added, for one year too.
