US Reportedly Poised To Delay Dec. 15 Tariffs

Trade negotiators from the U.S. and China are preparing to delay a new round of tariffs set to go into effect Dec. 15, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Sunday Deadline Could Pass 

The WSJ reported Tuesday that trade negotiators do not consider Sunday to be a hard deadline for completing a phase one trade deal, even though President Donald Trump has said the U.S. would raise tariffs on $165 billion in Chinese goods on that date.

The deadline could once again be extended, although Trump has not yet decided on a course of action, the newspaper reported. 

Chinese Agricultural Purchases A Sticking Point 

The last round of U.S. tariffs set to go into effect on $250 billion in Chinese imports Oct. 1 were initially delayed two weeks and then suspended entirely.

At the time, Trump said the tariffs were scratched because the U.S. and China were putting together a “very substantial phase one deal.”

A deal has yet to be completed.

Last week, Trump said he is willing to wait until after the 2020 U.S. election to complete a phase one deal.

“In some ways, I like the idea of waiting until after the election for the China deal, but they want to make a deal now and we will see whether or not the deal is going to be right,” Trump said.

The biggest sticking point in ongoing negotiations is reportedly China’s willingness to buy more American agricultural products. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin has said Chinapledged to buy between $40 billion and $50 billion in agricultural products per year.

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY was down 0.14% at the time of publication, while the iShares FTSE/Xinhua China 25 Index FXI was trading 0.4% higher.

Benzinga’s Take

Despite a booming U.S. economy, the trade war has been a drag on U.S. corporate earnings and a source of uncertainty for investors.

Unfortunately, headlines related to trade war negotiations have been a roller coaster throughout 2019, often flipping from positive to negative on a daily basis.

Do you agree with this take? Email feedback@benzinga.com with your thoughts.

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