On Friday, President Trump announced that following a successful phase one round of negotiations with China's Vice Premier and chief trade negotiator, Liu He, the planned increase to 30% from 25% of Section 301 duties slated for tomorrow has been postponed indefinitely.
You can read CNBC's take here.
In exchange, China has agreed to make significant agricultural purchases and open some businesses to foreign ownership beginning January 1st.
What was left unanswered, however, were the issues of intellectual property rights protection for US companies and from China's perspective, whether or not crippling sanctions on Huawei will be renewed in mid-November.
Speaking to reporters today, Treasury Secretary Mnuchin said that the President has not yet decided whether or not to delay or rescind the December 15th "List 4B," presumably to keep the pressure on China to continue the negotiations.
Most China watchers have believed - and still believe - that the goal is for the two sides to have made significant enough progress for an agreement of some kind to be signed between Trump and Xi while both are attending the annual APEC meeting in Santiago, Chile, in November.
We can recommend the following very good summary story - and accompanying infographic that succinctly describes how the rollercoaster of negotiations has ebbed and flowed, at the below link.
