Trump Reportedly Signs Off On Phase 1 China Trade Deal, Delays $160B In New Tariffs

President Donald Trump signed off on a phase one trade deal with China on Thursday that delays $160 billion in new tariffs on Chinese imports that were scheduled to take effect Sunday, according to Bloomberg reporter Jennifer Jacobs. 

Trade advisors were meeting Thursday afternoon with Trump to discuss the deal. 

U.S. negotiators offered to cut tariffs that are already in place on Chinese goods in half and suspend the Dec. 15 tariffs in order to strike a deal, according to Bloomberg. 

In exchange for the tariff concessions, the Wall Street Journal reported that the U.S. is insisting on commitments from Beijing to purchase large quanitites of agricultural and other products from the U.S., as well as to better protect intellectual property rights and increase access to China's banking sector, the Wall Street Journal reported. 

If China does not follow through, the tariffs would "snapback" to their previous levels, the newspaper said. 

Reports that a deal had been essentially reached, however, have come up several times in recent months. Trump first said he'd reached agreement with the Chinese back in October and put some tariffs on hold then.

Agreement on a phase one deal would signal a thaw in overall relations over trade between the two countries; the long-running trade war has been blamed for hurting the global economy. 

S&P 500 futures were trading 3 points higher in the wake of the trade news. 

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