The US president has announced a delay to planned tax increases on Chinese goods after "significant progress" in talks aimed at ending the trade war between the two countries.
President Donald Trump was planning to ramp up tariffs on $200bn (€176bn).
The increases would have seen taxes rising from 10% to 25%.
In a post on Twitter, President Trump said “substantial progress” has been made in the talks – with a potential summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in the offing at his holiday resort in Mar-A-Lago, Florida.
“I am pleased to report that the US 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,” he wrote.
“As a result of these very productive talks, I will be delaying the US increase in tariffs now scheduled for March 1st.
“Assuming both sides make additional progress, we will be planning a Summit for President Xi and myself, at Mar-a-Lago, to conclude an agreement.
“A very good weekend for US and China.”
I am pleased to report that 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. As a result of these very......
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 24, 2019
....productive talks, I will be delaying the U.S. increase in tariffs now scheduled for March 1. Assuming both sides make additional progress, we will be planning a Summit for President Xi and myself, at Mar-a-Lago, to conclude an agreement. A very good weekend for U.S. & China!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 24, 2019
Later in the evening, he hinted there could be "very big news over the next week or two" if all goes well in negotiations.
Speaking to US governors at the White House, he said: "China has been terrific. We want to make a deal that's great for both countries and that's really what we're going to be doing."
Trade war
The ongoing trade war has cast a shadow over the global economy – with import taxes slapped on hundreds of billions of dollars worth of goods coming in and out of both countries.
The conflict began when the US accused China of stealing technology and forcing foreign companies to hand over trade secrets, in what has been regarded as an aggressive push to challenge America's technological dominance.
Stocks markets rose in Asia following news of the delay; however, the news was greeted more cautiously elsewhere with indices in the US and UK only rising slightly.
