China Delays Increase of Duties on US Cars, Spare Parts for 3 Months - Fin Min

Beijing and Washington have managed to agree to eliminate some differences regarding the automotive, agricultural, and energy trade sectors, spokesman for the Chinese Commerce Ministry Gao Feng said on 13 December.

The government will suspend 25 percent tariffs on 144 US vehicle and auto part items and 5 percent tariffs on 67 auto items between 1 January and 31 March 2019, the Chinese finance ministry said in a statement.

The ministry has also stated that it hopes China and the United States can speed up negotiations to remove all additional tariffs on each other's goods.

The announcement was made after US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to de-escalate their countries' trade war during a meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit in the Argentine capital of Buenos Aires.

READ MORE: Kudlow Says China Committed to Lifting 40 Percent Tariffs on US Vehicles

The US President has agreed to suspend plans to raise tariffs on $200 billion worth Chinese products from 10 percent to 25 percent in order to pave the way for trade talks with Beijing, but warned that if the negotiations do not succeed within three months, the tariffs would be imposed as planned.

China and the United States have been engaged in a trade war since Trump announced in June that $50 billion worth Chinese goods would be subject to 25 percent tariffs in a bid to fix the US-Chinese trade deficit. Since then, the two countries have exchanged several rounds of trade tariffs.