Trump delays tariff hikes on Chinese goods beyond March 1 indicating progress in trade talks

In a positive development, President Trump said he would extend a deadline to impose tariffs on more Chinese goods beyond this week. This indicated "substantial progress" in the latest round of trade talks that ended on Sunday in Washington.

“The U.S. has made substantial progress in our trade talks with China on important structural issues including intellectual property protection, technology transfer, agriculture, services, currency, and many other issues,” Trump said in a Twitter posting late Sunday.

“As a result of these very productive talks, I will be delaying the U.S. increase in tariffs now scheduled for March 1,” he added.

Trump also indicated anther meeting with and China President Xi Jinping to conclude an agreement. The U.S. Trade Representative’s office is expected to issue an official order this week to delay the doubling of tariffs on more than $200 billion of Chinese goods. This is a good sign for the investors who are concerned about the trade war preventing global economic growth.

The move suggested that both the countries are willing to reach an amicable situation as further tariffs would have affected U.S. growth outlook.

The agreements will also cover issues like U.S. accusations that foreign companies are forced to transfer their technology in China. China’s technology transfer policies will be a significant issue to be covered by the agreement.

The trade war that started with Trump's imposition of 5% tariffs on imported steel and 10% tariffs on imported aluminium has taken a toll on both economies and caused some turmoil in financial markets generating concerns. Chinese exports to the US have suffered a weak patch in 2019 amid the dispute. But U.S. exports to China have also suffered affecting economic expansion.