US President Donald Trump said Monday, August 11, he has ordered a 90-day tariff truce to delay reimposition of higher levies on Chinese goods, hours before a suspension between the two economies was set to expire.
"I have just signed an Executive Order that will extend the Tariff Suspension on China for another 90 days. All other elements of the Agreement will remain the same," Trump posted on his Truth Social platform.
While the United States and China slapped escalating tariffs on each other's products this year, bringing them to prohibitive triple-digit levels and snarling trade, both countries in May agreed to temporarily lower them.
Their 90-day halt of steeper levies was due to expire Tuesday. Asked about the deadline earlier Monday, Trump said: "We'll see what happens. They've been dealing quite nicely. The relationship is very good with President Xi (Jinping) and myself."
Trump also touted the tariff revenue his country has collected since his return to the White House, saying "we've been dealing very nicely with China."
"We hope that the US will work with China to follow the important consensus reached during the phone call between the two heads of state," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said in a statement.
He added that Beijing also hopes Washington will "strive for positive outcomes on the basis of equality, respect and mutual benefit."