Trump to delay further tariffs increase on Chinese goods

President Trump will hold off raising tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars in Chinese imports, after what he called “very productive” trade talks in Washington this weekend.

The rise in import duties on Chinese goods from 10% to 25% was meant to come into effect on Friday 1 March.

Mr Trump told reporters that the US and China had made “substantial progress” in trade talks over the weekend.

He added that he was planning a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Florida to cement the trade deal if more progress was made.

Following a week of mostly being flat, on Friday Wall Street shares rose slightly, after Chinese negotiators agreed to extend their stay in Washington DC.

Tariffs had been scheduled to jump from 10 to 25 percent next Saturday. But Trump agreed to postpone that increase in hopes of negotiating a more comprehensive trade agreement.