Report: 10% Tariffs Could Be Delayed, Halted If China Talks Action Before Sept. 1

U.S. stocks traded sharply lower for the second consecutive day on Friday after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to once again ramp up his trade war with China by implementing a 10% tariff on an additional $300 billion of Chinese goods starting on Sept. 1. A new report on Friday that Trump may be willing to conditionally postpone the new China tariffs didn’t seem to stop the bleeding.

What Happened

At 9:06 a.m. ET on Friday, CNBC’s Kayla Tausche reported the U.S. Trade Representative is planning to release details on the new tariffs “soon,” but they're expected to impact goods arriving in the U.S. starting on Sept. 1. In addition, Tausche tweeted a senior administration official said Trump would be “willing to shelve [the tariffs] if China takes positive action.”

Why It’s Important

On Thursday, Trump announced the new tariffs via Twitter. He said U.S. representatives are having constructive trade talks with China but once again blamed China for backing out of a potential deal three months ago.

“More recently, China agreed to...buy agricultural product from the U.S. in large quantities, but did not do so. Additionally, my friend President Xi said that he would stop the sale of Fentanyl to the United States – this never happened, and many Americans continue to die!” Trump wrote.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up as much as 311 points on Thursday, but plummeted after Trump’s tariff tweets, finishing the day down 280 points.

What’s Next

On Friday, China spokesperson Hua Chunying said the nation would once again be forced to take countermeasures if Trump follows through with his threat. She also said China doesn't want a trade war with the U.S., but it's not afraid of one.

Investors were certainly spooked by the potential of a ramp in the trade war. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY and the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF DIA are both down 2% since Wednesday’s close, while the iShares FTSE/Xinhua China 25 Index FXI is down 3%.

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