US, China agree to temporarily halt tariffs in trade dispute

The United States and China have entered a 90-day moratorium in a trade dispute that threatened world economic growth, Associated Press reported.

The breakthrough came after a dinner meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping at the Group of 20 summit in Buenos Aires.

Trump agreed to hold off on plans to raise tariffs from January 1 on $200 billion in Chinese goods.

The Chinese agreed to buy a “not yet agreed upon, but very substantial amount of agricultural, energy, industrial” and other products from the United States to reduce America’s huge trade deficit with China, the White House said.

Earlier this year, Trump imposed import taxes on $250 billion in Chinese products — 25 percent on $50 billion worth and 10 percent on the other $200 billion.

The US president had planned to raise the tariffs on the $200 billion to 25 percent if he couldn’t get a deal with Xi. China has already imposed tariffs on $110 billion in US goods.