China cuts tariffs in half on $75 billion of U.S. imports

Mike Murphy reports in Market Watch,

China announced Thursday it will cut tariffs on $75 billion of U.S. imports by half, starting next week.

In a statement, China’s Ministry of Finance said 10% tariffs on some U.S. goods would be cut to 5%, while other goods that have faced 5% levies will have those cut to 2.5%, starting at 1:01 p.m. Feb. 14, Beijing time.

The ministry said the move was made “In order to promote the healthy and stable development of Sino-U.S. economic and trade relations.”

While the statement did not mention the current coronavirus outbreak, on Saturday the ministry suspended tariffs against some U.S. imports that could be used to help treat victims of the epidemic.

The retaliatory tariffs by China had been put into effect Sept. 1, as the U.S. similarly raised tariffs on $112 billion of Chinese goods.

In January, the U.S. and China signed a “phase one” trade deal, signalling a truce in a yearslong trade war. The deal cuts U.S. tariffs to 7.5% on about $120 billion in Chinese goods, but kept in place tariffs on about $360 billion of Chinese imports. President Donald Trump said those tariffs would stay in place until there’s a “phase two” trade deal.

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