Trump Grants 90-Day Extension on China Tariff Deadline

(The Epoch Times)—President Donald Trump has extended a 90-day tariff pause on China.

With only hours until the temporary agreement’s Aug. 12 deadline, Trump signed an executive order to allow the United States and China to continue trade negotiations.

Since a two-day meeting in Stockholm between the world’s two largest economies in late July, both sides have floated the idea of extending the deal to allow for further talks.

Earlier in the day, Trump did not say whether he would approve a 90-day extension to the U.S.–China tariff pause, potentially leaving the door open for tariffs to return to near-embargo levels.

“We’ll see what happens,” the president told reporters at an Aug. 11 press briefing.

“We’ve been dealing very nicely with China. As you have probably heard, they have tremendous tariffs that they’re paying to the United States of America.”

The United States and China engaged in near-embargo tariffs earlier this year. The United States imposed 145 percent levies on Chinese goods entering the country, while Beijing countered with 125 percent retaliatory tariffs. Since then, the current U.S. administration has lowered its rate to 30 percent, while China has reduced it to 10 percent.

An extension into the fall could allow for a meeting between Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Trump has also denied pursuing a summit with Xi, writing on Truth Social that he is “not seeking anything.”

“I may go to China, but it would only be at the invitation of President Xi, which has been extended. Otherwise, no interest!” the U.S. president said in a July 28 post.

It comes shortly after he confirmed that Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and Nvidia would be charged a 15 percent fee on revenues for artificial intelligence (AI) chip sales to China. Estimates suggest the U.S. government could collect approximately $2.2 billion from the sales.

The announcement did little to lift U.S. stocks as the leading benchmark indexes remained in the red. The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 0.4 percent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index and broader S&P 500 dipped 0.1 percent.

All About Soybeans

The next trade deal, meanwhile, could be contingent on soybeans, similar to what occurred during the Phase One trade negotiations during Trump’s first term.

Writing in an Aug. 10 Truth Social post, the president said he hopes Beijing will expand its purchases of U.S. soybeans.

“China is worried about its shortage of soybeans. Our great farmers produce the most robust soybeans,” Trump said. “I hope China will quickly quadruple its soybean orders. This is also a way of substantially reducing China’s trade deficit with the USA. Rapid service will be provided.”

Beijing, as part of a key provision in the 2020 trade deal, committed to buying $32 billion worth of U.S. agricultural products over two years, including immense volumes of soybeans. While the pact did not specify the exact amount of soybeans, U.S. officials say China’s purchases fell short of broader targets.

While it is the largest customer of U.S. soybeans—China bought $12.64 billion from the United States last year—the country’s purchases have declined since peaking in 2022, according to the Department of Agriculture. The European Union and Mexico are the second- and third-largest importers, with totals of $2.45 billion and $2.3 billion, respectively.

China is the world’s largest soybean importer, accounting for almost two-thirds of global imports, data from the International Food Policy Research Institute show.

Prices for soybeans surged during the Aug. 11 trading session following the president’s social media post. November soybean futures rallied 2.3 percent, or $0.2275, to $10.1025 per bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade.

What White House Has Said

U.S. officials have pursued aggressive trade negotiations aimed at rebalancing the global economic dynamic. Trump and his team are attempting to position the United States to reclaim its role as a leading manufacturer, while encouraging China to shift from a dominant exporter to a more consumption-driven economy.

The U.S. goods trade deficit with China was $295.5 billion last year, up 5.7 percent from 2023, according to the Trade Representative’s Office.

New Bureau of Economic Analysis numbers indicate that the U.S. trade deficit with China decreased to $9.4 billion in June, down from $13.94 billion in May.

Last month, a U.S. delegation led by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer met with their Chinese counterparts in Stockholm for two days. At a post-meeting press conference, Bessent and Greer suggested a 90-day extension was on the table, but it would be up to the president to decide.

Still, Bessent said he was optimistic that Washington and Beijing were inching closer to a trade agreement.

“I believe that we have the makings of a deal,” Bessent said in an interview with CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on July 31.

“There’s still a few technical details to be worked out on the Chinese side … I’m confident that it will be done, but it’s not 100 percent done,” Bessent said.

However, according to the president, additional tariffs could be implemented on China.

“It may happen … I can’t tell you yet,” Trump told reporters at an Aug. 6 press briefing. “We did it with India. We’re doing it probably with a couple of others. One of them could be China.”

The White House recently imposed an extra 25 percent levy on Indian imports entering the United States, bringing the total tariff rate to 50 percent.

Trump alluded to India’s hefty purchases of Russian oil as a reason for the punitive tariffs that he says are “fueling the war machine” in Ukraine.

As of Aug. 7, the current overall average effective tariff rate is 18.6 percent, the highest since 1933, according to The Yale Budget Lab.

Recent Daily Treasury Statement figures reveal that the U.S. government has generated more than $154 billion in tariff income fiscal year to date.