President Donald Trump announced via Twitter that his administration will delay until October 15, 2019, its increase in Section 301 tariffs from 25 percent to 30 percent on products from China appearing on Tranches/Lists 1-3. The president and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) had previously indicated that the 5 percent increase would take effect October 1, 2019. (See Trump and Trade Updates of August 26, 2019 and September 3, 2019.)
….on October 1st, we have agreed, as a gesture of good will, to move the increased Tariffs on 250 Billion Dollars worth of goods (25% to 30%), from October 1st to October 15th.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 11, 2019
According to the president, this postponement was made in response to both a request from Vice Premier Liu He and to the scheduling of the original tariff increase start date on October 1, which is a national holiday in China celebrating the founding of the People’s Republic of China. It is expected that the USTR will formally announce this delay with a Federal Register notice soon. Trade negotiations between the United States and China are scheduled to resume in the next several weeks.