By New York Times
The United States and China on Monday took a step to defuse the trade war between the world’s two largest economies, agreeing to temporarily reduce the punishing tariffs they have imposed on each other.
The move by the United States, after President Trump had repeatedly declared that he would not lower tariffs without concessions from China, represented an acknowledgment of the costs of an all-out trade war with China. Despite the White House’s bluster, the Trump administration ultimately backed off, for now, from its steepest tariffs, and agreed to hold more formal talks with Beijing after companies and consumers started showing signs of economic strain.
Explaining that many of the tariffs that he imposed remain in place, Mr. Trump said at the White House on Monday that talks would be focused in part on “opening up” China to American businesses. He said that he expected to talk to President Xi Jinping of China later this week, but that putting a full deal on paper would take a while.
